122 DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SHRUBS 



Caragana. The Pea Trees are generally shrubby in growth and can 

 be most readily known by the even number of blades to the pinnate leaves, 

 yellow flowers, and linear pods. There is but one species which is tall 

 enough to be considered a tree. This is the Siberian Pea Tree (143) — 

 Caragana arbor^scens, — which may grow to the height of 20 feet, but is 

 usually bushy ; it has 8- to 12-bladed leaves, yellow flowers f inch long 

 ( May, June) , and cylindric pods ; there is a weeping variety of this, p^ndula. 

 Small-bladed Pea Tree (144) — Caragana microphylla — grows 4 to 

 G feet high, has 12 to 18 veiy small blades (^\ inch) to the leaves 

 and flat pods. The remaining species have but 4 blades to the leaves ; 

 of these one from Siberia (6-10 feet high) has the blades so close together 

 as to appear like a ' four-leaved clover ' ; three species have persistent 

 spines at the tips of the 4-bladed leaves and are less than 5 feet high. 



[Seeds (soaked in warm water) ; root cuttings ; layers.] 



KEY TO THE PEA TREES 



* Blades 8-12, |-1 inch long ; flowers yellow, | inch long, 2 to 4 in a 



cluster (May, June) ; 10-20 feet high. Siberian Pea Tree (143) 



— Caragana arbor^scens. 



* Blades 12-18, ^-\ inch long ; flowers yellow, | inch long, 1 to 2 in a 



cluster; shrub 4-6 feet high. Small-bladed Pea Tree (144) 



— Caragana microphylla. 



* Blades 2-4. (A.) 



A. Blades 4, like a 4-bladed clover leaf, without spines ; 6-10 feet. 



Tall Caragana (145) — Caragana frut^scens. 

 A. Leaves spiny-tipped ; shrub 1-4 feet. (B.) 

 B. Blades in two somewhat distant pairs ; flowers reddish yellow, 

 li inch long. Chinese Caragana (146) — Caragana Chamlagu. 

 B. Blades together. (C.) 



C. Flowers golden, f inch long. Dwarf Caragana (147) 



— Caragana pygmpea. 



C. Flowers li inch long. Large-flowered Caragana (148) 



— Caragana grandiflora. 



Halimodendron arg^nteum. Salt Bush (140) is a hardy deciduous 

 shrub 4 to 10 feet high with whitish spiny branches, rosy-purplish pea- 

 shaped flowers and compound, usually 4-bladed leaves with stinging 

 spines at their tips. The flowers, nearly an inch long, are in axillary 

 clusters in May to July. The brown inflated pods 6 to 7 inches long are 

 ripe in September. The blades of the leaves are rather narrow near the 

 tips. [Seeds; layers; twig cuttings.] 



