247 GalegJformes. 



Leaf rachis conspicuously tapering. Leaflets oval to narrowly- 

 elliptical, 8-15 pairs, rather thin, 10-15 mm. long, about con- 

 tiguous, rounded and obtuse. Upper leaves nearly all sessile, 

 7-10 cm. long. Stipules long-acuminate. 



Pubescence shaggy. , 2io Drummondii. 



208. Astras^alus racemosus Pursh Fl. 740 (1814). A. galegioides 

 Nutt. Tium Rydberg:. Pods 2-3 cm. long, about 5 mm. high, and 4 mm. 

 uide, opening first at base and along the ventral suture, shining, very 

 faintly reticulated, abruptly acute at tip and rather tapering at base, 

 young pods decidedly more arched ventrally, but the suture sometimes a 

 little concave with age and the tip nearly in line with it, cross section 

 triquetrous with concave sides to oblstely deltoid, dorsal suture not 

 evident externally but raised as a thin edge within, ventral suture 

 sharp and narrow. Stipe not longer than calyx, about 2 mm. long, 

 bent near the middle and with a knob but not jointed. Flowers 

 very many in dense spike-like racemes, purple tipped to white, with 

 snake-like odor, 12-20 mm. long, rather narrow. Blades of petals 

 8-10 mm. long and with exserted claws. Banner arched to erect 

 or less in gentle arc beyond calyx tips, oblanceolate, faintly purple- 

 veined, little longer than the wings, seeming very narrow from the 

 sides being much reflexed. Wings 2 mm. wide, lanceolate to lin- 

 ear-oblanceolate, 2 mm. shorter than banner, rounded, wider at tip, 

 not arched, narrower and a little longer than keel. Keel obliquely 

 lanceolate-oblong, the tip gently rounded to 30-60% 7 mm. long, 3 

 mm. high. Calyx tube shoi't-cylindric, 4 mm. long, about 3 mm. high 

 and 2 mm. wide, a little arched, not narrowed below, truncate at 

 base and gibbous. Teeth setaceous and variable. Pedicels nearly 

 filiform (except in one variety) 2 mm. long. Bracts hyaline, never 

 shorter than the pedicels, rather deciduous, with thread-like tips, 

 variable, 2-10 mm. long. Peduncles 5-16 cm. long, shorter than 

 the leaves, with the floral rachis 5-10 cm. long in flower and often 

 a foot long in fruit, the spikes very dense and wide. Leaves not 

 over 1.5 dm. long, the upper the largest, rather stout. Petioles 

 rarely 2 cm. long, almost none above. Leaf rachis tapering and 

 stout. Leaflets 10-16 pairs, 1-2 cm. long, 3-7 mm. wide, lanceolate- 

 elliptical to ovate-elliptical or nearly lineai-, sub-alternate, contigu- 

 uous, leathery, truncate to rounded and apiculate, ashy with small, 

 flat and closely appressed hairs. Stipules lanceolate to triangular- 

 subulate, very broad at base and connate below, often 15 mm. long. 

 Stems stout, erect, 2-3 ft. high, sulcate, flexuous, with internodes 

 4-7 cm. long, several from a several crowned, erect, stout root. 

 Grows on poor and mostly clay soil on the Plains from the Canadian 

 Pacific R. R. southward to central Mexico, eastward into Nebraska. 

 Not on the Pacific or Great Basin drainage. Middle and Lower Tem- 

 perate life zone. 



Astragalus racemosus var. brevisetus Jones Cont. 7 662 (1894). 

 Bracts ovate-subulate, about 2 mm. long. Calyx teeth 2 mm. long 

 and tube gibbous above, broadly oblong in outline, 3 mm. long, 2 mm. 

 high, spuiTed. Pedicels 2 mm. long in flower, stout, longer than the 

 bracts. Leaflets about 20 pairs. Hoary plants. This grows on the 

 southern Plains, Nebraska to Texas. 



Astragalus racemosus var. longisetus Jones Cont. 7 663 (1895). 

 Bracts very long-setaceous, as long as calyx tube. Calyx teeth seta- 

 ceous and long. Leaflets about 2 cm. long and 7 mm. wide, elliptical. 

 Stipules large and reflexed. Plants mostly robust. On the northern 

 Plains from Colorado to Alberta. 



209. Astragalus scopulorum Porter Fl. Col.' 24 (1874). A. 

 subcompressus Gray, A. rasus Sheldon, Tium Rydberg. Pods with 

 body about 2.5-3 cm. long, 5-7 mm. high, and 4 mm. wide, vei-y 

 shortly-racemose-spicate, acuminate at base into a slender stipe 

 which' is as long as or twice as long as the calyx tube, opening along 



