PULSE FAMILY 



LEGUMINOSAE 



FRENCH GRASS 



Psoralen Onobrychis Nutt. 



This perennial grows along rivers and railroads, and in moist 

 thickets and open woods from Ohio to Illinois and Missouri, 

 southeast to South Carolina. It blooms in June and July. 



Some species of 

 Psoralea have edible 

 tuberous roots, but 

 not the French Grass. 

 Its nearly smooth, 

 branched stem grows 

 2-^ feet high and 

 bears numerous flow- 

 er clusters both in the 

 axils of leaves and 

 at the ends of 

 branches. 



The purplish 

 flowers are butterfly 

 shaped. The persis- 

 tent calyx is 5-tooth- 

 ed, the lower tooth a 

 little longer than the 

 others. The standard 

 is broadly oval and 

 the 2 wing petals are 

 oblong. The keel is curved inward between the 2 wings. The 

 10 stamens are alike and 9 of them are united. The pistil de- 

 velops into a rough and wrinkled i -seeded pod that does not 

 open at maturity. 



The Few-flowered Psoralea, Psoralen teniiiflorn Pursh, grows 

 on prairies in Illinois and westward to Texas, Colorado and Mon- 

 tana. It is slender but much branched and bushy and grows 2-4 

 feet high. The 3 leaflets are very short stalked, oval and less than 

 1 inch long. The plant is smooth except for glandular dots sprin- 

 kled throughout and especially on the ovate pods. The purplish 

 flowers, about one-quarter inch long, are 6-1+ in loose racemes 

 and bloom from June to September. Lobes of the calyx, as well 

 as the scalelike, persistent bracts, are ovate and acute. The single 

 seed is ovoid and brown. 



164 



