PULSE FAMILT. 103 



12. -AMdBPHA, FALSE INDIGO. (Name, amorphous, -wanting the 

 orclinary form, froin the absence of four of tlie petals.) There arc usually- 

 little stipels to the leaflets. Fl. summer. 



A. fru.tic6sa, Commo-^ A. Kivcr-banks from Pcnn. ,S. & W. ; a tall or 

 middle-bizcd shrub, smoothish, with petiolcd leaves of 1!) - 2.') oval or oblong leaf- 

 lets, violet or purple flo-wers in early summer, and mostly 2-accdcd pods. 



A. herb&oea (but it is not an herb) of low piric-barrens S., 2° -4° high/ 

 often downy, has the leaflets more rigid, dotted, and crowded, villous calyx- 

 teeth," later blue or white flowers, and 1-seeded pods. 



A. can^SCens, called Lead-Plant ; in ])rairics and on rocky banks W. 

 and S. W. ; 1° - 3° high, hoary with soft down, with sessile leaves of 29 - .51 

 elliptical leaflets, smoothish above when old, violet-purple flowers in late summer, 

 and 1-seedcd pods. 



13. PSOEALEA. (Greek word for scurfy, from the roughish dots or .-^lands 

 on the leaves, calyx, &e.) Wild S. & W. ; fl. early summer, violet, bluish, 

 or almost white. 2/ 



* Leaves pinnately S-JbUolatCj i, e. ilie side-leaflets a little below the apex of the 



common petiole, or the uppermost of a single leaflet. 

 P. On6brychiS. River-banks, Ohio to Illinois and S. : S° - h° h^h, 

 nearly smooth, with lanee-ovatc taper-pointed leaflets 3' long, small flowers ill 

 sbort-peduncled racemes 3' — 6' long; pods rough and wrinkled. 



P. melilotoides. Dry places, W. & S. : l°-2° high, somewhat pubes- 

 cent, slender, with lanceolate or lanee-oblong leaflets, oblong spikes on long 

 peduncles, and strongly wrinkled pods. 



* * Leaves digitate, of 3-1 leaflets. 



P. IiUpiu^UuS. Diy pine-barrens S. : smooth and slender, -with 5-7 very 

 narrow or thread-shaped leaflets, small Dowers in loose racemes, and obliquc.y 

 wrinkled pods. 



P. floriblinda. Prairies from Illinois S. W. : bushy-branched and slen- 

 der, 2° - 4° high, somewhat hoary when young, with 3-5 linear or obovato- 

 oblong much dotted leaflets, small flowers in short panicled racemes, and glan- 

 dular-roughened pods. 



P. oan^soens. Dry barrens S. E. Bu.shy-branehed, 2° high, hoary- 

 pubescent, with 3 (or upper leaves of single) obovato leaflets, loose racemes of 

 few flowers, and a smooth pod. 



P. argoph^lla. Prairies N. W., mostly across the Mississippi, widely 

 branched, 1" - 3° high, silvery white all over with silky hairs, with 3-5 broad- 

 lanceolate leaflets and spikes of rather few largish flowers. 



P. escul6llta, PosrarE Blakche of the N. W. Voyagcurs ; the turnip- 

 shaped or tuberous mealy root furnishing a desirable food to the Indians N. W. : 

 low and stout, 5' -15' high, roughish haiiy, with 5 lance-oblong or obovate 

 leaflets, a dense oblong spike of pretty large (J' long) flowers, and a hairy 

 pointed pod. ' ' 



14. OWOBRYCHIS, SAINFOIN. (Name from Greek, means Asses- 

 food.) 



O. sati-va, Common S. Sparingly cult, from Europe as a fodder plant, 

 but not quite hardy N. ; herb l°-2° high, with numerous oblong small leaf- 

 lets, brown and thin pointed stipules, and spikes of light pink flo-wers on long 

 axillary peduncles, in summer, the little semicircular pod bordered with short 

 prickles ot teeth, y. 



15. STYLOSAWTHES, PENCIL-FLOWER. (Name from Greek 

 words for column and, flower, the calyx being raised on its stalk-like base. 

 The application of the popular name is not obvious. ) 



S. eliltior, of pine-barrens from New Jersey and Illiflois S., is an incon- 

 epicnous low herb, in tufts ; the wiry stems downy on one side ; leaflets lan- 

 ceolate, with strong straight veins ; flowers orange-yellow, sjnall, in littlo 

 clusters or heads, in late summer. ^ 



