PEA FAMILY. 131 
It is among the earliest of our spring flowers and is 
found in rich woods of the eastern half of the continent. 
The heavily-veined and lobed leaf is at first folded about 
the flower bud, showing only its greyish-green, under sur- 
face. The two sepals fall off as the flower opens, and the 
eight white petals soon follow. The shining brown seeds 
are contained in slender green pods. The thick, red peren- 
nial rootstock is rich in alkaloids. 
THE GREATER CELANDINE, Chelidonium majus L., has 
effects that are similar to those of Bloodroot. It also is 
rarely or never eaten by stock. 
It is a brittle plant, one to two feet tall, with deeply 
lobed leaves and small yellow flowers. The two sepals 
fall off when the flower opens, leaving four yellow petals. 
The juice is deep yellow, turning red on exposure to air. 
PEA FAMILY—Leguminosae. 
THE PRAIRIE THERMOPSIS, Thermopsis rhombifolia 
Richards, is often eaten by sheep and has in some cases 
been thought to have poisoned them. The seeds are sup- 
posed to be the poisonous part, and several reports have 
come from western Canada of children being poisoned 
by eating them. They rarely cause death. 
The plant is an erect perennial resembling the Lupines 
to some extent. It is covered with silky hairs and grows 
from Manitoba and Kansas to the mountains. The leaves 
have broad stipules and three obovate leaflets. The short 
racemes bear a few yellow flowers and recurved pods. 
