PULSE FAMILY. Leguminvsae. 



This species lias similar flowers, hut 

 Desmodium they are considerably larger and borne 



PakTma^enta n & slender stalk which rises * the 

 June- plant-stein at the point where the leaf- 



September stalks spring outward. The broad, 

 pointed leaflets are much larger and a 

 trifle hairy. The strange seed-pod like that of the fore- 

 going species is 2-3 jointed. The name is from SeGjuoS 

 a chain, alluding to the connecting joints of the pod. 

 By means of these joints the pods attach to the furry 

 coats of animals. 1-4 feet high. The same distribution. 

 Desmodium ^ ne s ^ em f this silky hairy tick trefoil 



rotundifolium bends or lies near the ground. The leaflets 

 Purple- are quite round, comparatively speaking, 



magenta soft-hairy, and not pointed. The flowers 



September are ^8^ purple-magenta, and the pod 

 3-5 jointed, constricted nearly equally at 

 both edges. 2-5 feet long. About the same distribution. 

 Desmodium This species has oblong lance-shaped 



Dillenii leaflets, or quite ovate ones, nearly if not 



Pale magenta quite smooth above, an erect and nearly- 

 smooth stem, and branching flower-stalks 

 bearing very small pale magenta flowers. 

 Pod 2-4 jointed, the sections nearly triangular. 2-3 feet 

 high. Not farther south than Va. and Ky . , w T est to Neb. 

 Desmodium ^ s ^ narrower-leaved species, the deep 



paniculatum green leaflets scarcely 2 inches long, and 

 Pale magenta linear lance-shaped, resembling willow 

 leaves. The flower-spikes are rather hori- 

 zontally branched ; Pale magenta flowers 

 very small. Pod 4-6 jointed. The slender stem 2-3 feet 

 high. Common. 



The most showy species of the genus, 



Trefoil* 11 w ith crowded flower-clusters terminating 



Desmodium a t au > s t u t, an ^ hairy stem. The leaves 



Canadense are nearly without stalks, or with sho'rt 



Dull magenta- O nes, and the three leaflets (longer-stalked) 



p!nk are oblong lance-shaped. The flowers 



September (larger than those of the other species) are 



nearly | inch long, and vary in color from 



magenta to magenta-pink. Pods 3-5 jointed and quite 



218 



