LEGUMLNOS^:. 85 



1. H. BOREALE, Nutt. Northern Hedysarum. 



Leaves nearly sessile; leaflets 8 to 12 pairs, oblong smoothish; stipules sheathing, 

 Bubulate ; racemes on long peduncles ; legumes with smooth roundish joints. 



Mountains. June, July. Per. Stem 10 to 20 inches high, rather stout, very 

 leafy. Leaflets % to % inches long, % to }/ 3 wide, obtuse, mucronate. Racemet 

 2 to 4 inches long, on rigid peduncles 3 to 5 inches long. Flowers large and hand- 

 some, violet-purple, numerous. 



14. DESMODIUM. DC 



Gr. demos, a chain; from the appearance of the jointed pods. 



Calyx mostly 2-lipped, upper lip 2-parted, lower one 

 3->parted. Standard roundish. Keel obtuse, not truncate, 

 shorter than the wings. Stamens diadelphous (9 and 1), 

 or nionadelphous, below the middle. Legume flattened, 

 composed of several square easily separable joints. — Herba- 

 ceous perennial plants, icith p innately -trifoliate leaves, stipel- 

 late; and flowers in axillary or terminal racemes, often 

 panicled, purple, or purplish, often turning green in drying ; 

 laments mostly hoary ivith minute-toothed hairs by which they 

 adhere to the fleece of animals or to clothing. 



* Stem erect or ascending ; Stamens all connected: calyx toothed or entire : raceme 

 terminal panicUd, or the pedicels often clustered: legumes long-stalked. 



1. D. nudiflortjm, DC Naked-flowered Tick-Trefoil. 



Leaflets roundish-ovate, acuminate ; scape radical, smooth, panicled ; joint of the 

 legume, obtusely triangular. 



Dry open woods ; common. Aug. Stem 8 to 10 inches high, remarkably distin- 

 guished by having its leaves and flowers on separate stalks, often distant from each 

 other. Leaflets ternate, 3 to 4 inches long, 1 to 2 or 3 inches wide, whitish. Scape 

 ■1 to 3 feet long, slender, smooth, leafless. Floivers purple. 



2. D. acuminatum, DC Pointed-leaved Desmodium. 



Leaves all crowded at the summit of the stem, on very long petioles ; leaf- 

 lets round-ovate, acuminate; panicle terminal, on a very long peduncle; joints of 

 the legume 2 to 3, semi-oval, pubescent. 



Shady woods. July, Aug. Whole plant slightly hairy. Stem about 1 foot high, 

 ending in a slender panicle 1 to 2 feet long. Leaflets 3 inches in diameter, terminal 

 one orbicular, ovate, 4 to 5 inches long. Flowers pale-purple or flesh-color. 



3. D. pauciflorum, DC Few-flowered Desmodium. 



Leaves scattered along the low ascending stems: lateral leaflets obliquely-ovate, 

 the terminal one dilated, rhomboid ovate, all sub-acuminate and pubescent-ciliate ; 

 raceme few flowered, terminal; legume stipitate. 



Woods; rare. Aug. Stem 6 to 9 inches high, decumbent or sub-erect. Petioles 

 2 to 3 inches long. Leaflets 1 to 3 inches long, %_ as wide. Flowers 2 to 6, whit* 

 or reddish white, in a loose slender raceme. Legume with 2 to 3 semi-oval pubes- 

 cent joints slightly connected. 



• • Stems prostrate ; legumes short stalked, of 3 to § joints. 



4. D. humifusum, Beck. Running Desmodium. 



Smooth; stem procumbent; leaflets ovate or oval; stipules ovate-lanceolate; 

 racemes axillary and terminal, elongated; joints of the legume Bttb-rhnn»hoi4 

 S 



