268 THE PEA FAMILY. 



intense changing colours, fairly startling in effect to those who see them 

 growing for the first time. Of this gay species the vexillum, or banner petal 

 is a pale red, while lurking at its base is a deep purple spot. The thick, 

 silky wool which enwraps most parts of the plant gives it, moreover, some- 

 what the look of being clothed as are animals with a fur coat, and most 

 prominent this feature becomes when the capsules have usurped the place 

 of the flowers. 



The generic name from Lupus, a wolf, was originally bestowed because 

 the prolific growth of the plants was thought to exhaust and devour the soil. 

 As a matter of fact, however, they seem to be especially designed to trans- 

 form barren waste country into acres of luxuriant beauty. Many of them 

 have the peculiarity of turning to face the sun and are called " sun dials." 



L. diffiisus, a smaller species, often found growing with the preceding, 

 bears in contrast a beautiful raceme of blue flowers, the vexillum of which 

 is spotted with purple. The leaves also are simple and obovate and covered 

 thickly with a silky pubescence. Often quite an inch long are the seed pods 

 and as well are covered with a shaggy coat. 



The many northeastern and western species of lupines differ mostly from 

 these two of the south in having their leaves digitately-divided. 



LOTUS. BIRD'S=FOOT TREFOIL. 



Lotus HeUeri. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Fea. Rose and yellow. Scentless. North Carolina. Septe)nber. 



Flowers: small; solitary at the ends of slender, axillary peduncles or terminat- 

 ing short, leafy branchlets. Calyx : persistent, with five slender pointed lobes. 

 Corolla : papilionaceous, the rose-pink standard equalling in length the yellowish 

 wings and keel. Stamens : diadelphous, nine and one. Legumes : linear, smooth, 

 enclosing many seeds. Leaves: sessile; three-foliate, the leaflets very small, 

 linear-oblong, or linear ; entire; mostly glabrous. Stem : erect ; divaricately 

 branched ; leafy at least when young. 



When on a trip through North Carolina in search of rare plants, this one 

 was collected by Mr. Heller, and afterwards named in his honour. Before 

 this time it had been confused with Lotus Americana, the prairie bird's 

 foot trefoil, and a species not found east of the Mississippi. 



SAMSON'S SNAKEROOT. 



Psoralea pedunciildta. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pea. Purplish. Scetitless. Texas and Florida to North Alarch-July. 



Carolina westward to Katisas. 



FloT.uers : growing rather loosely in terminal and axillary racemes. Calyx : vil- 

 lous. Standard : ovate, or rounded and raised on a claw. Witigs : oblong. 



