296 CLASS XVII. ORDER IV. 



ly ; racemes pendulous ; calyx teeth unarmed ; le- 

 gumes smooth. 



Leaves pinnate, smooth. Leafets numerous on short petioles, 

 oblong oval, minutely mucronated, smooth both sides. Stipules 

 of the leafets minute, linear, passing in front of the petioles. 

 Flowers in long, pendulous racemes. Calyx ventricose, green 

 and purple, four toothed or cleft, the upper segment notched. 

 Corolla white. Sides of the banner reflexed. Keel of two dis- 

 tinct, cohering petals. Legume broad and flat, with a few kid- 

 ney shaped seeds. I have observed that in this species, together 

 with R. viscosa and R. hispida, the keel of the flower consists of 

 two distinct petals, inserted by separate claws, slightly cohering 

 at tip and sometimes on a part of their under side ; as takes 

 place in Ulex, Spartium, &c. 



The Locust tree, exceedingly valued for the hardness and du- 

 rability of its timber, is not, I believe, found native in the New- 

 England states, though abundantly naturalized near habitations 

 and roads. — June. 



319. TEPHROSIA. 

 Tephrosia ViRGiNicA. TcpTirosia. 



Erect, villous; leafets numerous, oblong, acumi- 

 nate ; raceme terminal, short ; calyx woolly ; legumes 

 retrofalcate, villous. 

 Syn. Galega Virginica. L. 



The root of this plant is very long, slender and tough, whence 

 it has acquired the name of catgut. The whole plant is covered 

 with a pale green down. Stem a foot high, round. Leaves al- 

 ternate, pinnate, with from eight to twelve pair of oblong, mu- 

 cronate leafets and an odd one. Flowers very beautiful, in a 

 short terminal raceme. Calyx hairy, red, with very acute seg- 

 ments. Banner of the corolla whitish yellow, downy; wings 

 red, keel whitish and red. Stamens in two sets. Stigma bearded 

 inside. Pods linear, crooked backward. A very handsome plant, 

 growing in bunches in the driest sandy woods. — June, July. — 

 Perennial. 



