Genus 5. 



PEA FAMILY. 



Crotalaria sagittalis L. 



Fig- 2459- 



347 

 Rattle-box. 



Crotalaria sagittalis L. Sp. PI. 714. 1753. 



Annual, erect or decumbent, villous-pubes- 

 cent, branching, rarely over 1° high. Leaves 

 simple, oval, lanceolate or oblong, acute or 

 obtusish at the apex, rounded at the base, en- 

 tire, nearly sessile, i'-2j' long, 2"-8" wide ; 

 stipules persistent and united, decurrent on the 

 stem, sagittate above, or the lower wanting; 

 peduncles i'-4' long, 2-4-fioweTed ; pedicels 

 l"-3" long; flowers yellow, 4"-6" long, the 

 corolla about equalling the calyx ; pod oblong, 

 glabrous, nearly sessile in the calyx, i' long, 

 4"-5" in thickness, much inflated, nearly black 

 at maturity; seeds shining. 



In dry open places, Vermont to Florida, Minne- 

 sota, South Dakota, Arkansas and Mexico. Also 

 in Jamaica. June-Sept. Wild pea. Loco-weed. 



2. Crotalaria rotundifolia (Walt.) Poir. Prostrate Rattle-box. Fig. 2460. 



Anonymos rotundifolia Walt. Fl. Car. 181. 1788. 

 Crotalaria sagittalis var. ovalis Michx. Fl. Bor. 



Am. 2: 55. 1803. 

 Crotalaria rotundifolia Poir. in Lam. Encycl. 



Suppl. 2 : 402. 181 1. 

 Crotalaria ovalis Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 469. 1814. 



Perennial by a deep somewhat woody root, 

 the slender branches usually prostrate. Pu- 

 bescence mostly dense, brownish, spreading or 

 ascending; leaves broadly oblong or oval, 

 obtuse at both ends, or narrowed at the base, 

 paler beneath than above, V-iY long; petioles 

 i"-2" long; upper stipules usually distinctly 

 sagittate, the lower much smaller, or often 

 wanting; peduncles lateral, 2'-6' long, slender, 

 2-6-fIowered ; flowers usually distant, yellow, 

 6"-8" long; corolla little longer than the calyx; 

 pod nearly as in the preceding species. 



Mostly in dry soil, southern Virginia to Flor- 

 ida, Missouri and Louisiana. May-Aug. 



Crotalaria Purshii DC, of the southern United 

 States, another perennial deep-rooted species, but 

 with leaves linear to oblong, stems erect or ascend- 

 ing, and merely puberulent, is recorded as enter- 

 ing our area in southern, Virginia. 



6. LUPINUS [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 721. 1753. 



Herbs, rarely shrubs, with alternate digitately-compound 7-15-foliolate (rarely simple or 

 3-S-foliolate) leaves, and showy flowers in terminal spikes or racemes. Calyx deeply toothed 

 and 2-lipped. Standard orbicular or ovate, its margins reflexed ; wings oblong or obovate ; 

 keel incurved, sometimes beaked. Stamens monadelphous, their sheath not cleft; anthers of 

 two forms as in Crotalaria. Ovary sessile ; style incurved. Pod flattened, generally con- 

 stricted between the seeds, the valves coriaceous. [Latin name of some pulse, from lupus, wolf.] 



Over 100 species, mainly natives of temperate and warm regions. About 70 occur in North 

 America, mainly on the western side of the continent. Type species : Lnpinus albiis L. 



Perennial ; flowers 7"-g" long; leaflets oblanceolate. 



Corolla blue, pink or white, the standard not spotted. i. L. perennis. 



Corolla blue, with a conspicuous dark spot on the standard. 2. L. plattensis. 



Perennial; flowers 4"-6" long; leaflets oblong-linear. 3. L. decumbens. 



Annual ; leaflets mainly oblong ; pod 2-seeded. . 4. L. pusillus. 



