52 PLANTS WKIGHTIANJE. V. 



J A. NuTTALLiANUs, DC; Ton: Sf Gray, Fl. 1.^9.334; var. pumilus, canescenti- 

 strio'osus, et leguminibus breviusculis ut in ^. trichocarpo sed glaberrimis. — New 

 Mexico; coll. of 1851. — Plant 2 to 5 inches high,, slender; the peduncles 2-3- 

 flowered ; the legumes varying from a quarter to half an inch long. No. 156, PL 

 Fendl., is nearly the same plant. Although the pods are smooth, it is nearer relat- 

 ed to the var. trichocarpus than to the original A. Nuttallianus. — Allied to this 

 species and to A. distortus, but with larger flowers than either, is an Astragalus, 

 which I have formerly received from Mr. Wright, and recently from Lindheimer, 

 under the name of 



f A. LiNDHEiMERi (^Engelm. ined.) : glabriusculus ; caulibus e radice annua plu- 

 rimis adsurgentibus ; foliolis 7 - 8-jugis anguste oblongis emargiuatis ; stipulis e 

 basi latascariosa subulato-acuminatis ; pedunculis folium paulo superantibus 6 - 12- 

 floris ; floribus approximatis ; bracteis subulatis pedicello longioribus ; calycis denti- 

 bus setaceis tubo companulato longioribus ; vexillo amplo (violaceo) subemarginato ; 

 leguminibus immaturis oblongo-linearibus subfalcatis glabris 10-spermis. — Sand- 

 bar in the Colorado near Austin, Texas ; April. (On rich, Muskit soil, near water, 

 along the Santa Clara, 10 miles south of New Braunfels, AprU, 1850, Lindheimer. 

 Vexillum beautifully purple-blue, as is the tip of the carina; the wings with 

 sulphur-yellow tips.) — A span to a foot high, with the leaves much as in the Amer- 

 ican A. Hypsoglottis. Flowers half an inch long : the very slender calyx half the 

 length of the corolla. Mature fruit not seen. 



•|- A. DISTORTUS (Torr. Sf Gray, FL 1. p. 333): glabriusculus; caulibus e radice 

 perenni plurimis adsurgentibus; foliolis 5-12-jugis oblongis obovatisve ssepe retu- 

 sis ; stipulis triangulari-subulatis ; pedunculis folium superantibus ; spica brevi 10 - 

 20-flora ; floribus mox decurvis ; calycis campanulati dentibus subulatis tubo sub- 

 duplo brevioribus ; vexillo apice emarginato-bilobo ; leguminibus oblongis turgidis 



character), is a larger plant, with more numerous and usually rounder leaflets, pale flowers (white or 

 ochroleucous, tinged above with rose-color and violet), and very turgid, globose-ovoid, wholly obtuse and 

 pointless legumes, which are over an inch in diameter. These, like the ovary, are perfectly glabrous. (I 

 know not what is represented by fig. 6 and 7 in De Candolle's plate cited above, nor do I find any refer- 

 ence to them in the text.) No. 597, PI. Lindh. 2. p. 176, I must now refer (at least as to the specimen 

 before in the Hookerian herbarium) to 



A. Plattensis, Nutt. in Torr. 4" Gray, Fl. I. c. This is a more hirsute plant than either of the pre- 

 ceding (the young leaves, &c., quite villous), from which it is well distinguished by its larger flowers (an 

 inch long), the longer subulate teelh of the calyx, and the pubescent (ovate, acuminate) legume. To this 

 species belongs Geyer's No. 128, from the Kanzas River, referred by Hooker (in Lond. Jour. Bot. 6. p. 

 210) to A. caryocarpus : also what I had referred to A. Mexicanus (No. 597) in PI. Lindheimeriance, as 

 just mentioned. The specimens are not in fruit, but the ovaiy is pubescent (while in the preceding it is 

 perfectly glabrous), and the large flowers, long and narrow calyx-teeth, hairy foliage, &c., exactly accord 

 with Nuttall's original specimens. 



A. DiPHYSus, Gray, PL Fendl., is a nearly glabrous plant, with adnate stipules, obovate and mostly re- 

 tuse leaflets, and thin-walled pods. 



A. HUMiLis, Geyer in Hook. Lond. Jour. Bot. 6. p. 211 (non Bieb.), of which the fruit only is 

 known, does not belong to this group, although it has a thick-walled pod. The pod is not two-celled, 

 the dorsal suture being only moderately inflexed. It is an acaulescent species, allied to A. cyaneus, if it 

 really belongs to this genus, and not to Oxytropis. 



