LEGUMINOSAE 



PULSE FAMILY 



WHITE PRAIRIE CLOVER 



Pctalostemum candidum Michx. 



White Prairie Clover occurs on dry plains from Indiana 

 to Minnesota and Manitoba, south to Tennessee, Louisiana and 

 Texas, and west to Colorado. Inasmuch as most of our Illinois 

 prairies have been destroyed, the best 

 place to look for this plant is along a 

 railroad, where it appears in great patches 

 in June and July. 



This is a very common perennial whose 

 smooth, sparingly branched or entirely 

 simple stem grows 1-2 feet high. The 5-9 

 leaflets are lanceolate or linear-oblong. 



The white flowers are crowded in a 

 cylindrical spike. Those at the base of the 

 spike open first and the blooming progresses 

 upward. The bracts, a little longer than 

 the nearly smooth calyx, are awned. The 

 fifth petal is heart shaped. The fruit is 

 a I or 2-seeded pod within the persistent 

 calyx. 



The Leafy Prairie 

 Clover, Petalostemum folio- 

 sum Gray, is a species 

 which seems to be very 

 limited in its distribution 

 here. It has been found 

 along the Kankakee river, 

 along the Illinois river at 

 Romeo, near Joliet, and 

 perhaps a few other places, 

 but it is very local. It has 

 purple flowers but is easily 

 distinguished from the Pur- 

 ple Prairie Clover by the 

 numerous leaflets, 13-31, 



close together. They are about one-half inch long and oval. The 

 petal inserted at the base of the calyx is nearly round. 



Did your gossips gold and blue. 

 Sky and Sunshine, choose for you, 

 Ere your triple forms were seen, 

 Suited liveries of green? 

 Can ye — if ye dwelt indeed 

 Captives of a prison seed — 



Like the Genio, once again 

 <Jet you back into the grain? 

 Little masters, may I stand 

 In your presence hat in hand, 

 Waiting till you solve for me 

 This your threefold mystery? 



.ToiiN HamstkrTabb 



167 



