182 LEGUMINOSiE. Lespedeza 



late or setaceous : stipelles none. Flowers in axillary pedunculate spikes or racemes, and 

 often with other apetalous and imperfect but fertile ones, mostly in subsessile glomerales. 

 Torr. ^ Gr. 



^ 1. EcLESPEnEZA, Torr. &, Gr. Flmoers of tioo kinds: compteie, but seldom perfecting fruit, in 

 loose few-flowered racemes with purp'e or violet petals; and fertile, but mostly destitute of 

 petals and stamens ; the latter often in separate, nearly sessile glomerules. 



1. Lespedeza procumbens, Michx. Trailing Lespedeza: 



Whole plant woolly-pubescent, except the upper surface of the leaves, procumbent, with 

 the branches assurgent ; leaflets oval, obovatc or elliptical, mostly rclusc ; peduncles axillary, 

 elongated, few-flowered, sometimes paniculate at the extremity of the branches ; apetalous 

 flowers occupying the lower peduncles, and also often the axils of the lower leaves ; legumes 

 nearly orbicular.— Mic/ij?. fl. 2. p. 70. t. 39 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 108 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 408 ; DC. 

 prodr. 2. p. 350 ; Torr. compend. p. 267 ; Beck, hot. p. 88 ; Darlingt. Jl. Cest. p. 422 : 

 Torr. 4- Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 366. Hedysarum repens, WilM. sp. 3. p. 1200. 



Stems numerous, much branched, slender, 2-3 feet long, clothed with a dense whitish 

 spreading pubescence. Leaflets about half an inch long. Common petioles very short in the 

 upper leaves ; in the lower, 3-6 lines long. Calyx slightly 2-lipped, shorter than the corolla 

 (as in all the species of this section) ; the 2 upper segments often united at the base, hairy. 

 Flowers handsome purple tinged with violet. Apetalous flowers sometimes mixed with the 

 others ; the calyx small. Legume more than twice as long as the calyx. 



Sandy fields, dry woods and hill-sides. August. Common in the valley of the Hudson, 

 and on Long Island ; rare in the interior of the State. 



2. Lespedeza repens, Torr. S^ Grr. Slender Lespedeza. 



Plant minutely pubescent with appressed hairs, or nearly smooth, diffusely procumbent ; 

 leaflets oval or obovate-elliptical, the uppermost ones emarginate ; petioles mostly very short ; 

 peduncles axillary, elongated, few-flowered, the lower ones (sometimes short) bearing apetalous 

 flowers ; legumes nearly orbicular. — Torr. 4- Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 367 ; Bart. fl. Phil. 2. 

 p. Ill L. prostrata, Pursh, fl. 2. p. 481 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 108 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 350 ; 

 Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 156 ; Beck, hot. p. 88. Hedysarum repens, Linn. sp. {ed. 1.) 2. 

 p. 749. H. prostratum, Willd. sp. 3. p. 1200. 



Stems 2 feet or more in length, very slender. Flowers rather smaller, but in other respects, 

 as well as in the fruit, resembling those of the preceding species. 



Sandy fields, Long Island. August. 



