YELLOW GROUP 



stem, flattening themselves closely against it, so as scarcely 

 to be distinguishable at night from the branches. 



"A sensitive plant in the garden grew, 

 And the young winds fed it with silver dew; 

 And it opened its fan-like leaves to the light, 

 And closed them beneath the kisses of night." 



The leaves of our species are feather-like rather than fan- 

 like. 



These plants are common from New Jersey and Long 

 Island southward. In their season they make bright with 

 color the dry land along the railroads, extending into the 

 fields and lining the waysides. (See illustration, p. 178.) 



False or Wild Indigo 



Baptisia tinctoria (name means "to dye," on account of the 

 use of some species to make a "poor indigo"). — Family, Pulse. 

 Color, yellow. Calyx, 4 or 5-toothed. Corolla, papilionaceous. 

 Stamens, 10. Pods, roundish, pointed, stalked, a little raised 

 above the calyx. Leaves, smooth, small, 3-divided, nearly sessile, 

 the leaflets wedge-shaped. Stipules and bracts present, out very 

 small. Flowers, in numerous short racemes. Summer. 



This common, well-known "indigo" plant is found every- 

 where along our walks and drives, in sandy soil. The leafy, 

 much-branched, in outline roundish, bushy herb, about 2 

 feet high, with its bright racemed pea-blossoms, is a general 

 favorite, notwithstanding its tendency to turn black when 

 picked and dried for the herbarium. 



Rattle-box 



Crotalkria sagittalis Family, Pulse. Color, yellow. Corolla, 



papilionaceous, the standard large, broad, heart-shaped. Of the 

 10 united stamens, 5 have larger anthers than the others. The 

 pistil protrudes. Pods, at first green, then turning black, becom- 

 ing hard and brittle. The dry seeds rattle in the pod, whence 

 the common name. Leaves, simple, oblong, acute, nearly sessile. 

 Stipules, present, inversely arrow-shaped at base, so formed by 

 running down on the stem. June to September. 



A small, coarse, hairy plant, 1 foot high or less, near the 

 coast in sandy soil from Massachusetts to Florida and Texas. 



Yellow or Hop Clover 



Trifotium agrarium — Family, Pulse. Color, yellow, the corolla 

 becoming dry and brown with age. Leaves, 3-foliate, spreading, 



179 



