LEGUMINOS^E 



THE LEAVES: opposite; palmately divided; the three leaf- 

 lets oblanceolate tending to obovate, at the apex obtuse 

 or cut off short (truncate) or notched, often capped with 

 an abrupt tip, at the base narrowed or wedge-shaped; 

 the leaf petioled. 



THE FLOWERS: in short, dense racemes. 



THE FRUIT: a pod, twisted in two or three spirals, having 

 short, soft hairs. 



This low, bushily-branched plant, which from its zigzag 

 stem gives the impression that it has never decided 

 whether to stand erect or to grow sideways, has three- 

 divided leaves with a tiny, sharp bristle at the tip, and 

 clover-like heads of whitish-purple flowers, that vary in 

 tone with the age and possibly with the situation of the 

 plant. 



It has been much cultivated for fodder and often per- 

 sists as a weed in neglected fields or spreads to near-by 

 roadsides. 



LEGUMINOS^E PULSE FAMILY 



Tephrosia virginiana, (L.) Pers. 



Straw-yellow with Hoary Pea, Goat's Rue, 



crimson-red keel Wild Pea, Catgut, 



Turkey Pea Devil's Shoe- 

 July- August Indian Bean, strings. 



Tephrosia: from Greek for ash-coloured or hoary. 

 Virginiana: Latin for Virginian. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil of the Commons. 



THE PLANT: from long and tough roots; erect or nearly so, 

 one foot to two feet high; the stem clothed with short, 

 silky, whitish hairs. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; pinnately compound, the seven 



to twenty-five leaflets oblong, mucronate or notched at 



1 60 



