20 MINNESOTA BOTANICAL STUDIES. 



Astragalus elatiocarpus n. sp. 



Astragalus lotifiorus Hook, forma hrachypus A. Gray, Proc. Am. 

 Acad. 6 : 209. 1866. 

 not Astragalus hrachypus Schrenk, Enum. PI. Nov. 69. 1841, 



a Soongarian species. 



Perennial, acaulescent or somewhat caespitose with short, 

 thick, woody, rarely branching stems covered with white, ap- 

 pressed hairs; leaves erect- spreading, 2 — 5 inches in length, 

 rachis white - pubescent with long appressed hairs, leaflets 

 usually four pairs, rarely five or six, broadly lanceolate, acute 

 or in some forms obtuse or rarely retuse, pubescent with white, 

 appressed hairs beneath, slightly so above, stipules 2 — 3 lines 

 long, ovate- acuminate ; peduncles elongating after the pod has 

 matured, becoming as long or slightly longer than the leaves, 

 but flowers sessile, few, usually 3 — 4, small, 2 — 3 lines in 

 length, calyx teeth longer than the tube, corolla yellow, the 

 keel inflexed ; pod ovate- acuminate, incurved, f to 1 inch in 

 length, sessile, woolly pubescent with white, somewhat spread- 

 ing hairs, dorsal suture rarely very slightly impressed. 



I have been led to suggest the specific rank of this plant from 

 observations made at Silver lake. Otter Tail county, Minn., 

 during the summer of 1892. It is very abundant in the sandy 

 "throw-ups" on the shores of this lake. Dr. Gray, in separat- 

 ing the plant from Astragalus lotiflorus Hook. , gives as a reason 

 for its rank as a forma, "pedunculis brevissimis vel nullis." I 

 have found that while this is true for the early stages of the 

 plant, the flower-peduncles after the maturity of the fruit, 

 elongate and thus raise the ripened pod from the sand or gravel 

 in which the plant grows to a height equal to or exceeding that 

 of the leaves. So far as I have been able to determine, this 

 phenomenon is unusual in Astragalus. Plants in which it oc- 

 curs might be named in general, elatiocarpic. 



The range of this species is from Colorado and Wyoming to 

 Texas, Minnesota and Hudson bay. 



Astragalus accunibens n. n. 



Astragalus procumbens Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 20 : 361. 1885. 

 not Astragalus procumbens Hook. & Abn. Bot. Beech. Voy. 18. 1830, 



which is the accepted name for a Chilean species. 



not Astragalus procumbens Mill. Gard. Diet. Ed. 8. No. 18. 1768, 

 which is a synonym of Astragalus i^entaglottis Linn. Mant. 247. 

 1767, a native of southern Europe and northern Africa. 



