Astragalus. LEGUMHSrOS^E. 147 



than the tube : corolla purple, about half an inch long : pod ovate and pointed, in- 

 flated, of somewhat ehartaceous texture, nearly three fourths of an inch long, hoary 

 with appressed hairs, nearly or quite 2-celled. — PL Hartw. 307. A. Artfou-Schottii, 

 Gray, 1. c. 209. 



Near Monterey, Coulter, according to his herbarium ; but probably collected in the arid region 

 of the southeastern borders of the State, where it was found by Fremont, Sehott, Coopt r, &c. 



7. A. aridus, Gray. Silvery silky-eanescent, like the preceding: leaflets oblong, 

 3 or 4 lines long: peduncles shorter than the leaves, spicately 5— 8-flowered: corolla 

 barely twice the length of the calyx, hardly over 2 lines long, yellowish-white : pod 

 obliquely ovate, acute, inflated, of linn ehartaceous texture, half an inch long, canes- 

 ccnt, mie-ccUcd. — Proc. Am. Acad. vi. 223. 



Southern borders of the State, between Colorado and San Diego, Tlvwrbt r. 



II. Species with perennial roots : leaflets and stipules not spinescent. 



§ 1. Pod bladdery-inflated (the walls thin and membranous), several - many-seeded, 



* Two-celled by the turning in of both sutures till they meet or nearly so, more or 

 less diclymous, being grooved externally down both sides, sessile in t/ie calyx. 



.\. diphysus, Gray, PI. Fendl. 34, which extends from New Mexico to the centre of Nev ida, 

 rnine-i in-ar A. /■ iiiitjiiinsim, but is glabrous throughout, except sometimes a little pubescence ou 

 the calyx, and has rather large pods. 



8. A. lentiginosus, DougL A span to a foot or so high, the tufted stems 

 soon diffusely spreading, from slightly to hoary-pubescent : leaflets 1 1 to 19, from 

 obovate or obcordate to oblong, a quarter to half an inch long: peduncle short: 

 flowers and fruits mostly crowded in the oblong spike or raceme: corolla either 

 white or purple, nearly half an inch long: pod turgid-ovate and pointed, more or 

 less incurved, usually puberulent, occasionally purplish-mottled, seldom an inch and 

 sometimes only half an inch long. — A. ineptus, Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. vi. 525, 

 appears to be only a narrow-leaved and pubescent form. A. diaphanus, Dougl. in 

 Hook. I"], i. 151. 



Var. Fremontii, Watson. More hoary-pubescent, with looser-flowered spikes, 

 usually on a longer peduncle : stem flexuous. — A. Fremontii, Torr. & Gray. 



Common through the arid interior region, from Washington Territory and the eastern part of 

 the Sierra Nevada to the southern borders of the State; the variety mostly southward. Var. 

 floribundus, Gray, is the ordinary form well developed. This species is one of the poisonous 

 •• Rattle-weeds " of the southern and eastern parts of the State. 



9. A. platyti'opis, Gray. Dwarf and tufted on long and stoui horizontal root- 

 storks, densely silvery-silky ; the stems very short, hardly rising above the ground : 

 leaflets 7 to 13, obovate or oblong, 3 lines or loss in length: slender scape-like 

 peduncles aboul the length of the tufted leaves, bearing a little head of 5 or <> 

 flowers: corolla yellowish-white, except the broad and round-tipped keel, which is 



purplish and as long as il ihor petals: pod turgid-ovate, very short-pointed, 



puberulent, sometimes purplish-mottled, an inch or less in length. — Proc. Am. 

 Acad, vi. 526. 



Sierra Nevada above Sonora Pass, at 10,000 feet, B ' Humboldt Mountains, Nevada, 



at II, I- i. Watson. 



* * One-celled pod, with no turning in oftlie dorsal suture, 



+■ Stipitate, i. e. th pod raised more or less on a stalk of its own al lyx. 



++ ritems low and tufted: pod obovali or oval and very obtust : peduncles hardly 

 exceeding tlu. leaf, rather few <imt densely flowi 



It). A. Hookerianus, Gray. Silky-villons or pubescent, diffusely tuffa 

 span high : leaflets 13 to 19, oblong or linear, 2 or 3 lines long: Bowers very shorl 

 pedicelled : 'olio white oi whitish : pod obovate and uol in the li isl pointed, 



