
PEA FAMILY 47 
a crop. During the World War, meal was made from the dried and 
ground plants and used as a substitute for flour. 
ALPINE CLOVER TRIFOLIUM DASYPHYLLUM 
Plate 28, fig. 3 
The flowers of the Alpine Clover have a cream-white standard and 
rose-purple wings and keel. They are clustered in heads on stem- 
less plants which form mats or cushions 4-20 in. across and grow only 
on alpine peaks at 12000-14000 ft. They bloom in midsummer. The 
name “Clover” comes from the Latin word meaning “club” and refers 
to the resemblance between the leaf and the 3-headed club of Hercules. 
The clubs of playing-cards are also no doubt an imitation of the clover- 
leaf. The 3-parted leaves of the clovers fold together and “sleep” at 
night. The cultivated clovers are valuable as fodder and the white- 
flowered species makes beautiful lawns. 
PSORALEA PSORALEA TENUIFLORA 
Plate 28, fig. 4 
Psoralea bears its small blue to purplish flowers in open spikes on 
branching plants 1-4 ft. tall. They bloom in early summer and are 
found on dry plains and hills at 4000-8000 ft. Some species of this 
genus are used in medicine and one, Psoralea esculenta, has a tuber- 
ous root that is edible. 
DwarF CLOVER TRIFOLIUM NANUM 
Plate 28, fig. 5 
The pink to rose-purple flowers of the Dwarf Clover occur usually 
in pairs on prostrate or spreading stems in the high mountains. They 
bloom in midsummer and are found only at 9000-14000 ft. The Latin 
name for the genus means “three-leaves”’, and the 3-parted leaf is 
characteristic of practically all clovers. 
