112 LEGUMINOS^. (POLSE FAMILY.) 



ducous, or the lower ones larger and persistent; racemes numerous, short, few- 

 flowered, somewhat leafy at the base ; bracts ovate-lanceolate, persistent ; 

 flowers small, on long 2-bracted pedicels ; ovary villous : legume small, ovoid, 

 slender-pointed. — Dry sandy soil, Florida and the southern parts of Georgia. 

 May and June. — Stem 2° high. Leaflets 1' long. Plant unchanged in 

 drying. 



•10. B. Serenas, M. A. Curtis. Very smooth, branching ; leaves petioled ; 

 leaflets oblong-obovate, cuneato ; flowers in a long loose central raceme, and in 

 short racemes terminating the branches ; pedicels longer than the caly.K in fruit ; 

 segments of the calyx villous on the inside ; legume oblong, inflated, the stipe 

 longer tlian the calyx. — Society Hill, South Carolina, Curtis. May and June. 

 — Stem dift'iisely branched, 1°- 2° high. Leaflets 1' long. Legume S" long. 

 Allied to No. 7 and No. 11. I'lant unchanged in drying. 



^- ■»- Flowers white. 



11. B. alba, R. Brown. Smooth and glaucous ; branches slender, flexu- 

 ous, horizontal ; leaves all distinctly petioled ; leaflets thin, cuncate-lanceolate or 

 oblong, obtuse ; stipules and bracts minute, caducous ; raceme usually solitary, 

 central, very long, those on the branches fuw-flowcrcd ; legume cj'lindrical. — 

 Damp soil, Florida to North Carolina, and ^yestward. April. — Stem 2° -3° 

 high, often purple. Leaflets 1' long. Racemes l°-3°long. Corolla ^' long. 

 Plant unchanged in drying. 



12. B. leueantha, Torr. & Gray. Smooth and glaucous ; branches 

 spreading ; leaves short-petioled ; leaflets oblong and obovate, obtuse ; stipules 

 lanceolate, as long as the petioles, deciduous ; racemes central, and terminating 

 the branches, long, many-flowered ; ovary smooth ; legume large, oblong, much 

 inflated, long-stipitate. — River-banks, Florida to South Carolina, and westward. 

 March and April. — A stouter plant than the preceding, with larger leaves and 

 flowers, changing blackish in drying. Legumes Ij' long. 



13. B. leueophaea, Nutt. Hairy or smoothish ; stem stout, angled ; 

 leaves short-petioled ; leaflets varying from oblanceolate to obovate, rigid, re- 

 ticulate, soon smooth above , stipules and bracts leafy, ovate-lanceolate, per- 

 sistent; racemes stout, declined, 1 -sided ; flowers large, yellowish-white, on long 

 and slender erect pedicels ; ovary villous , legume ovoid, long-pointed. (B. 

 bracteata, Multt.) — Dry rich oak woods, Wrightshoro, Georgia, and westward. 

 April, — Stem low, with widely spreading branches. Racemes 4'- 12' long. 

 Flowers 1' long, the vexillum spotted with brown. Plant turns black in drying. 



-^ -I — y- Flowers blue. 



14. B. australis, R- Brown Smooth ; leaves all short-petioled ; leaflets 

 cuneate-obovate ; stipules leafy, lanceolate, twice as long as the petioles ; ra- 

 cemes large, erect, many-flowered; flowers (indigo blue) very large; bracts 

 deciduous; legume oblong. (B. coerulea, Nutt) — BnnUs of rivers, Georgia 

 (PursA), and westward. June and July. — Stem 2° -3° high. Flowei-s 1' or 

 more long. Legume 2' long. Plant unchanged iu drying. 



