PULSE FAMILY 131 
VI. BAPTISIA Vent. 
Perennial herbs; stems erect, widely branched. Leaves 
simple or palmate, of 3 leaflets. Flowers in racemes. Calyx 
4-5-lobed, persistent, the upper lobe usually longer and 
notched; standard rounded, its sides reflexed, wings about 
as long as the keel. Stamens 10, distinct. Pod stalked, long- 
pointed by the remains of the style. Plants usually becom- 
ing black in drying.* 
1. B.tinctoria R. Br. Witp Inpico. Stem smooth, slender, 2-4 ft. 
high; branches slender. Leaves of 3 leaflets, on short petioles, the 
upper nearly sessile; stipules minute, quickly deciduous. Leaflets 
obovate to oblanceolate, obtuse at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, 
entire. Racemes numerous, terminal. Flowers yellow, }in.long. Pod 
globose, ovoid, on a stalk about the length of the calyx, point long and 
slender. Plant blackening in drying. Common on dry, sandy soil.* 
2. B. bracteata Muhl. Low, hairy, and branching. Leaves nearly 
sessile ; leaflets oblanceolate or obovate-spatulate ; stipules triangular- 
ovate, large, persistent; bracts large and leaf-like. Racemes long. 
Flowers large, yellowish-white. Pod ovoid, swollen. Prairies and 
open woods W. and S. 
3. B. leucantha T. & G. Stout, smooth, and covered with a bloom, 
3 ft. or more high, with spreading branches. Petioles short ; lanceo- 
late stipules and bracts falling off early. Racemes erect. Flowers 
large, white. Pods ellipsoidal, 2 in. long, borne on a stalk twice as 
long as the calyx. Rich river bottoms and prairies. 
4. B. alba R.Br. Wuite Wivp Inpico. Stem smooth and with a 
bloom, often purple, 2-3 ft. high; branches slender, spreading. Leaves 
petioled, with 3 leaflets; stipules minute, soon deciduous. Flowers 
white, mostly in a single raceme which is 1-3 ft. long, with occasionally 
lateral, few-flowered racemes. Pod linear-oblong, the point very slen- 
der and soon deciduous. Plant unchanged in drying. In damp soil.* 
5. B. australis R. Br. Biue Fase Ixpico. Stem smooth, stout, 
2-4 ft. high. Leaves of 3 leaflets, short-petioled; stipules lanceolate, 
persistent, longer than the petioles; leaflets oblong, wedge-shaped or 
narrowly obovate, entire. Flowers bright blue, 1 in. long, in terminal, 
erect, loosely flowered racemes; stalk about the length of the calyx. 
Pod oblong, with a slender, persistent point. Banks of rivers ; often culti- 
vated for ornament.* 
VII. CLADRASTIS Raf. 
A moderate-sized tree, with smooth dark gray bark and 
yellow wood. Leaves of 7-11 smooth oval or ovate leaflets. 
