LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 239 
a rounded, yellowish white standard tinged with purple, a rosy pink 
keel, and reddish purple wings; the standard is softly hairy on 
the back. Pods one or two inches in length, flattened, often 
somewhat curved, densely hairy, and many-seeded. Wild turkeys 
are said to search for and fatten on the peas, though the plant 
has the reputation of being poisonous. The Indians used its 
string-like rootstocks for a vermifuge, and Pammel ! states that it 
was used also for poisoning fish. 
Means of control 
Prevent seed production and starve the rootstocks by cutting 
the stems close to the ground in early summer. Cultivate and 
enrich the soil. 
WOOLLY LOCO-WEED 
Astrdgalus mollisimus, Torr. 
Other English names: Crazyweed, Purple Loco, Stemmed Loco, 
Texas Loco. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: April in the southern limit of its range, to June at 
the northern limit. 
Seed-time: June to August. 
Range: South Dakota and Wyoming, southward to Texas, New 
Mexico, and Arizona. Most abundant in Colorado and western 
Kansas and Nebraska. 
Habitat: Open prairies; lower mountain slopes; wild meadows. 
The Loco-weed Disease in horses, cattle, and sheep is every year 
the cause of enormous losses to persons engaged in the business of 
raising live-stock in many of the Western States. The symptoms 
indicate much cerebral disturbance and affected animals are 
commonly said to be crazy. There are a number of plants that 
cause the disease, all of them Legumes and nearly related; but this 
and the following species range most widely and are credited with 
the greatest amount of injury to the stock-raising industry. Horses 
and sheep are the chief sufferers from the poison, though cattle also 
are frequently “locoed.”’ 
Woolly Loco has a large, tough, woody, deep-boring root, some- 
times penetrating to a depth of six or more feet, from the crown of 
which spring tufts of short, branching stems, a foot or less long, some 
1 Manual of Poisonous Plants, page 558. 
