LEGUMINOS^. (pulse FAMILY.) 135 



bracts scale-like, often striate. (Name from bea-iios, a bond or chain, from the 

 connected joints of the pods.) 



§ 1. Pod raised on a stalk within the calyx (stipe) many times longer than the slightly 

 toothed calyx and nearly as long as the pedicel, straightish on the upper margin, 

 deeply sinuate on the lower ; the 1-4 joints mostly half-obovate and concave on 

 the bach: stamens monaddphom bdoiv: plants nearly glabrous: stems erect or 

 ascending : raceme terminal, panicled : stipules bristle-form, deciduous. 



1. D. midifl6rum, DC. Leaves all crowded at the summit of sterile stems ; 

 leaflets broadly ovate, bluutish, whitish beneath ; raceme elongated on an ascend- 

 ing mostly leafless stalk or scape from the root, 2° long. — Dry woods : common. 



2. D. acuminatum, DC. Leaves all crouxledai the summit of the stem from 

 which arises the elongated naked raceme or panicle; leaflets ronnd-OTate, taper- 

 pointed, green both sides, the end one round (4' -5' long). — Rich woods. 



3. D. paucifl6rum, DC. Leaves scattered along the low (8' -15' high) 

 ascending stems ; leaflets rhombic-orate, bluntish, pale beneath ; raceme few- 

 flowered, terminal. — Woods, W. New York and Pennsylvania to Illinois and 

 southward. 



§ 2. Pod raised on a stalk (stipe) little if not all surpassing the deeply-cleft calyx: 

 stems long and prostrate or decumbent : racemes axillary and terminal. 

 * Stipules conspicuous, ovate, taper-pointed, striate, persistent : racemes mostly simple. 



4. D. rotundifblium, DC. Soft-hairy all over, truly prostrate; leaflets 

 orbicular, or the odd one slightly rhomboid ; flowers purple ; pods almost equally 

 sinuate on both edges, 3 - 5-jointed ; the joints rhomboid-oval. — Dry rocky 

 woods : rather common. 



Var. glabrktum : almost glabrous, otherwise nearly as the ordinary form. 

 (Hedysarum humifusum, Muhl. in part, Bigel., &c.) — Mass., New York, &c. 



5. D. OOhroletlCUm, M.A.Curtis. Stems sparsely hairy, Aec\mAt&at; leaf- 

 lets nearly glabrous, ovate, acute or obtuse, transversely reticulated beneath, 

 the lateral ones smaller or sometimes wanting; racemes much elongated; 

 corolla whitish ; pods twisted, 2 - 4-jointed, the large rhomboid joints smooth and 

 reticulated but the margins downy. (Perhaps Muhlenberg's H. humifusum 

 from " Carolina.") — Woodlands, Maryland ( W. M. Canby) and southward. 



* * Stipules smaller, lanceolate and awl-shaped, less persistent : racemes panicled. 



6. D. tiumiftisum, Beck (as to syn.). Glabrous or nearly so, procum- 

 bent ; leaflets ovate or ovate-oblong, rather obtuse, much smaller than in the two 

 preceding (li'-2' long) ; corolla purple ; pods 2-4-jointed, flat, the oval-rhom- 

 boid joints minutely scabrous throughout. (Hedysarum humifusum, Muld. Ft. 

 Lancast. herb., ex Canby.) — Dry sandy soil (Lancaster, Penn., Muhlenberg), 

 Salisbury, Maryland, W. M. Canby. 



§ 3. Pod slightly if at oil stalked in the codyx : racemes panicled. 

 » Stems tall (3° -5°) and erect; the persistent stipules and deciduous bracts large 

 and conspicuous, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed: pods of 4-7 unequal- 

 sided rhombic joints, which are considerably longer than broad, about J' long. 

 (Flowers rather large.) 



7. D. can^SCeus, DC. Stem loosely branched, hairy; leaflets ovate, 

 bluntish, about the length of the petioles, whitish and reticulated beneath, both sides 



