PULSK FAMILY. 103 



12. AMORPHA, FALSE INDIGO. (Name, amorphous, -wanting th« 

 ordinary form, from the absence of four of tlie petals. ) There are usually 

 little stipels to the leaflets, Fl. summer. 



A. frutic6sa, Common A. Eiver-banks from Penn. S. & W. ; a tall or 

 middle-sized shrub, smoothish, with petioled leaves of 15 - 2.5 oval or oblong leaf- 

 lets, violet or purple flowers in early summer, and mostly ,2-seeded pods. 



A. herb&cea (but it is not an herb) of low pine-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 prairies and on rocky banks W. 

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

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

 and 1-seeded pods. 



13. PSORAIiS A. ( Greek word for scurfy, from the roughish dots or ,<Tland3 

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

 or almost white. ^ 



* Leaves pinnately Z-foliolate, i. e. the side-leaflets a little helow the apex of the 

 common petiole, or the uppermost of a single leaflet. 



P. On6bryehis. River-banks, Ohio to Illinois and S. : 3° - 5° high, 

 nearly smooth, with lance-ovate taper-pointed leaflets 3' long, small flowers ill 

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



P. melilotoides. Dry places, W. & S. : 1° - 2° high, somewhat pubes- 

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

 peduncles, and strongly wrinkled pods. 



* • Leaves digitate, ofS-7 leaflets. 



F. IiUpin^UuS. Dry pino-barrens S. : smooth and slender, with 5 - 7 very 

 narrow or thread-shaped leaflets, small flowers in loose racemes, and obliquely 

 wrinkled pods. 



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

 der, 2° - 4° high, somewhat hoary vvhen young, with 3-5 linear or obovate- 

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

 dular-roughened pods. 



P. can^scens. Dry barrens S. E. Bushy-branched, 2° high, hoary- 

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

 few flowers, and a smooth pod. ' ' 



. p. argoph^Ua. 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. eseul6nta, Pomme Blanche of the N. W. Voyageurs ; the turnip- 

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

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

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

 pointed pod. 



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

 food.) 



O. sativa, Common S. Sparingly cult, from Europe as a fodder plant, 

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

 lets, brown and thin pointed stipules, and sjjikes of light pink flowers on long 

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

 prickles or teeth. ^ 



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

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

 The application of the popular name is not obvious. ) , 



S. elktior, of pine-barrens from New Jersey and Illinois S., is an incon- 

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

 ceolate, with strong straight veins ; flowers orangeryellow, small, in little 

 clusters or heads, in late summer, y. 



