PULSE FAMILY 



LEGUMINOSAE 



GOAT'S RUE. CATGUT 



Tephrosia virginiana (L.) Pers. 



The Goat's Rue is common in dry sandy soil from Maine 

 to Minnesota and south to Florida and northern Mexico. It is a 

 somewhat branched herb that grows i-2 feet high and is covered 



with silky whitish 

 hairs. Its slender 

 roots are very tough, 

 because of which it 

 is sometimes called 

 Devil's-shoestrings 

 and Catgut. Wild 

 Sweet Pea is a fourth 

 name in some local- 

 ities. The stems are 

 quite leafy and the 

 leaflets on each leaf 

 are linear-oblong 

 and 17-29. 



The yellowish 

 white flowers, 

 marked with purple, 

 bloom during June 

 and July. The calyx 

 is about equally 

 5-cleft. The stand- 

 ard is nearly round, 

 with the sides turned 

 back, and is silky 

 on the outside. The 2 wing petals are oblong and the keel is 

 somewhat curved. The filaments of 9 of the 10 stamens are 

 united nearly to the top, but the tenth is united to the others 

 only at the base. The pistil matures into a flat, several-seeded 

 pod that is densely hairy. 



Like all members of the Pulse family the Goat's Rue is 

 pollinated by insects. It is the only one of 120 species of this 

 genus to be found in Illinois. 



Oh, garden of grasses deep and wild, 

 So dear to the vagrant and the child 



And the singer of an hour. 



Wild Gardens — Ada Foster Murray 



168 



