PULSE FAMILY 



LEGUMINOSAE 



PURPLE PRAIRIE CLOVER 



Petalostemiim purpureum (Vent.) Rydb. 



The structure of these flowers differs markedly from 

 that of any other genus in the family. The calyx is nearly 

 equally 5-toothed and somewhat hairy. There are only 5 



stamens and their filaments are 

 united to form a sheath which is 

 cleft down 1 side. Four of the 

 white petals are nearly alike and 

 are borne at the top of the stamen 

 sheath, whereas the fifth is nearly 

 round or heart shaped and in- 

 serted in the base of the calyx. 

 The genus name Petalostemum 

 comes from the combination of 

 two Greek words meaning petal 

 and stamen, and refers to the 

 peculiar union of these parts. 



This smooth herb inhabits dry 

 prairies from Indiana and Louisiana 

 to the Rocky mountains and Mani- 

 toba. It grows 1-3 feet high, gener- 

 ally in small clumps and frequently 

 along with its relative White Prairie 

 Clover, page 167. It is abundant 

 along railroads. 



The numerous small leaves, often 

 so thickly clustered as to conceal the 

 stiff and slender stems, have 5-9 

 very narrow leaflets about one-half inch long and sharp tipped. 

 The flowers are in dense cylindric spikes one-half inch thick 

 and up to 2 inches long. The calyx has 5 ovate, pointed sepals, 

 and is silky hairy. The corolla is purple, slightly more than 

 one- eighth inch long; the standard is heart shaped, and wings 

 and the keel are oblong. 



CLOVER 



Little masters, hat in hand. Tell ine~ for I long to know — 



Let me in your presence stand. How, in darkness there below. 



Till your silence solve for me Was your fairy fabric spun. 



This your threefold mvsterv. Spread and fashioned, three in one. 



166 



