THE PEA FAMILY. 269 



Keel: incurved. Stamens: ten. Z^-jj-v/wfj ; nearly round. Zz-^irrj ; with slender 

 petioles and narrow pointed stipules ; three-foliate ; the leaflets oblong-lanceolate, 

 mostly bluntly pointed at the apex and rounded at the base ; entire and covered with 

 small rather inconspicuous glandular dots. Stems : one foot to eighteen inches 

 high; erect; branched, slightly pubescent. 



Although the common name of this rather unattractive plant seems un- 

 doubtedly to be Samson's snakeroot, it is the one which the mountaineers 

 of the south reserve exclusively for the blue gentian ; a plant especially well 

 known to them for the purpose of making a powerful and invigourating 

 tonic, which next to whiskey, coffee and tobacco holds a strong place in their 

 affections. Indeed it is in itself a study of much interest to compare and 

 trace to their origin the common names of many American plants. The 

 greater number of them perhaps have been adapted from Indian appellations, 

 while also many have been appropriately bestowed by the people. 



P. Onobrychis, sainfoin psoralea, appears very different from Samson's 

 snakeroot as its leaflets are broadly ovate with long tapering apices. Its 

 long, slender raceme also is more closely packed with small purplish llowcrs, 

 and seldom comes into bloom before June. 



LEAD PLANT. flOUNTAIN FALSE INDIGO. y^l'Iate LXXXI.) 



Amorpha virgdta. 



/y^Te/^rj- : growing in dense, terminal or lateral, spike-like racemes. Calyx: 

 persistent; small ; with five minute teeth ; hairy. Standard : embracing the 

 stamens and style. Wings and keel none. Stamens : ten, monadeljihous at 

 the base ; exserted. Legnme : straight on the back, tijiped with a remnant of 

 the style; one-seeded. Leaves: compound; odd-pinnate with from seven to 

 nineteen ovate leaflets, obtuse at the apex, entire, glabrous, darker above than 

 below. A shrub, three to eight feet high ; erect, branching. 



An old superstition exists among the country people that wherever 

 Amorpha grows lead is to be found. No doubt at some time this 

 substance was discovered in its vicinity, and so the idea may have 

 originated. Of itself, however, the lead plant w^ould attract many an eye, 

 for it is very unusual looking, and pretty. The bloom when young 

 shows innumerable protruding anthers, which give it a fluffy, bright ap- 

 pearance and much enliven its more sombre tone of purple. The foliage 

 is then a pale grass-green. This, however, as it grows old becomes dimmed 

 and finally turns to rich shades of purple and maroon. Another (piaint 

 little characteristic there is about the foliage of the Amorphas. Each 

 leaflet is glandular-punctate, somewhat as though it had been done with a 

 needle. Of this peculiarity collectors are well aware and the first thing 

 they do when a le^f e.xcites their suspicion is to hold it up to the light, 



