138 FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 
undershrubs. Their chief value is as forage or grazing plants and as 
honey producers. : 
Tribe Loteae. The genus Lotus exhibits considerable diversity, 
both in habit and in the color of its flowers. It is widely represented 
in the Pacific States, and also in Europe. 
Tribe Galegieae. The large genus Indigofera is well known on 
account of the beautiful blue dye yielded by JZ. tinctoria and I. Anil. 
Ornamental garden plants are afforded by wisteria (Kraunhia) and 
locust (Robinia), the native pink flowered species of which are very 
, beautiful. The Liberian pea 
tree (Caragana) is also orna- 
mental, and is of considerable 
economic value in the regions 
where it occurs. The bark fur- 
nishes tough cordage, and the 
seeds are good food for poul- 
try. On our western plains 
the traveler will notice the 
great abundance and variety of 
species of Astragalus and re- 
lated genera. These are herba- 
ceous plants of clover-like ap- 
pearance, but decidedly oppo- 
site in the character of their 
j herbage, since many of them 
are “loco” weeds, and are ex- 
tremely poisonous to cattle. 
nan acne é 
SE 
ee The licorice tree (Glycyrrhiza) 
Fig. 121. The hoary tick-trefoil Meibomia canes-, yields the familiar sweet drug 
cens. After Britton & Brown, Ill. Fl. Northeast. U. S. of our childhood 
na 
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es. 
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Tribe Hedysarieae. This includes some European genera valu- 
able for forage purposes, notably Onobrychis and Coronilla. It also 
includes that toothsome product of our southern States, the peanut 
(Arachis hypogaea). The tick-trefoils (Meibomia) are common and 
troublesome weeds whose jointed pods are beset with fine bristles, giv- 
ing them abundant opportunity to travel about and seek new abiding 
places through the agency of the passer-by (see Fig. 121). UM. gyrans, 
of India, the telegraph-plant, is said to indicate approaching storms by 
the movement of its sensitive leaflets. 
Tribe Dalbergieae. The tropical genera Dalbergia, Machaerium 
and Pterocarpus, besides being ornamental, furnish useful timber. 
Dipteryx odorata yields the tonka bean, which is extensively used by 
. 
