26 



FABACEAE 



Melilotus — Sweet Clover 



(Gr. meli, honey, lotus, clover, from the fragrant leaves) 



1. Flowers white; stem 1-3 m. tall; leaflets notched at tip 



2. Flowers yellow; stem 'j-1 m. tall; leaflets blunt 



MedicagG — Alfalfa, Nonesuch 



..;,-. medi'ke, alfalfa, Lat. -ago, like) 



1. Flowers blue; perennial 



2. 1 Im» ers yellow ; annual 



a. Leaves oval to rounded; pod smooth, black, 1-seeded 



b. Leaves cuneate, spotted; pod spiny, coiled, several seeded 



M. alba 



M. officinalis 



M. sat ha: alfalfa, 



lucerne 



M. liipulina: non, such 

 71/. maculdia: spotted 

 medic 



Trifolium — Clover. Alsike 



(Lat. tri-, three, folium, leaf) 



1. Heads round or nearly so 



a. Flowers red, rarely white 



b. Flowers white to pinkish 



(1) Stems erect or ascending, 3-6 dm. high 



(2) Stems creeping, 1-2 dm. high 



2. Heads oblong to cylindric 



a. ILads 3-6 cm. long; red corolla exceeding calyx 



b. Heads 1-2 cm. long; whitish corolla shorter than calyx 



Phaseolus — Bean 



(Gr. phaselus, string-bean) 



1. Flower clusters longer than the leaf; flowers usually red 



2. Flower clusters shorter than the leaf; flowers not red 



a. Flowers greenish-white ; pod broad ; seeds flat 



b. Flowers white to purplish; pod narrow; seeds swollen 



( 1 ) Twining 



(2) Bushy, not twining 



T. pratense: red c. 



T. hybridum: alsike 

 T. re pens: -white c: 



T. incarndtum: crimson 



c. 

 T. arvense: rabbit-foot 



P. multifldrus: scarlet 

 runner 



P. lunatus: lima bean 



P. vulgaris: common 



kidney b. 

 P. nanus : bush b. 



Falcata — Wild Peanut 



(Lat. falcatus, sickle-like, from the form of the keel) 

 Leaflets ovate; flowers purplish to white; pods both aerial ami subterranean F. comosa 



Lespedeza — Bush Clover 



Named for Lespedez, a Spanish governor of Florida) 



L. capital a 

 L. Sieboldii 



D. gyrans 



1. Flowers in heads, creamy or white; native 



2. Flowers in racemes, red-purple; cultivated 



Desmodium— Tick-Trefoil, Telegraph Plant 



(Gr. desmos, bond, chain, from the loment) 

 Leaflets 3; end leaflet large, lateral ones small, moving up and down 



Apios — Groundnut 



(Gr. apios, pear, from shape of the tubers) 

 Flowers purple-brown, fragrant; stems from strings of starchy tubers A. tuberosa 



Lathvrus — Sweet Pea, Everlasting Pea 



(Gr. lathyros, a kind of pulse) 



1. Peduncles 2-4-flowered ; flowers fragrant; annual L. odordtus 



2. Peduncles many-flowered; flowers scentless; perennial L. latifolius 



