670 The American Naturalist. [July, 
These facilities are freely placed at the disposal of professors of bot- 
any and other persons competent to carry on research work of value 
in botany or horticulture, subject only to such simple restrictions as 
are necessary to protect the property of the Garden from injury or loss. “ 
Persons who wish to make use of them are invited to correspond with 
the undersigned, outlining, with as much detail as possible, the work 
they desire to do at the Garden, and giving timely notice so that pro- 
vision may be made for the study of special subjects. Those who have 
not published the results of original work are requested to state their 
preparation for the investigation they propose to undertake 
Under the rules of Washington University, persons entitled to can- 
didacy in that institution for the Master’s or Doctor’s degree, may 
elect botanical research work as a principal study for such degrees, if 
they can devote the requiste time to resident study. 
WILLIAM TRELEASE, Director. 
A New Astragalus.—On June 25, 1892, I started out for a col- 
lecting trip from the village of Long Pine, Brown Co., Nebraska. On 
the outskirts of the village, I came across a patch of Astragalus loti- 
florus, and mingled with it were plants of similar form and habit, but 
separated by their extreme hirsuteness. I collected a few of each, 
knowing that the latter form was new to me, at least ; but, not having 
in my possession all the Astragali, even of Nebraska, did not know 
that it would be new to others. On my next visit, a month later, I 
found that a flock of sheep had grazed everything to the ground, eating, 
probably, fruit and all. Many subsequent visits have resulted in 
determining that the form is very scarce. A few scattered plants have 
been found along a roadside 100 rods north; none elsewhere, except 
that a few days’ later in the same year, Mr. J. A. Warren found one 
plant in Clay County in southeastern Nebraska. This spring I have 
been able to find but two plants, the species /otiflorus itself being very 
scarce in the same localities. The new plant is undoubtedly a variety 
of A. lotiflorus Hook., and is described as follows: 
Astragalus lotiflorus Hook., var. nebraskensis.,n. var. Biennial, or 
shortlived perennial; the long, very slender tap-root sparsely or not at 
all fibrous for several inches above; stems 2 to 5inches long, prostrate- 
spreading and scarcely ascending, in the larger forms, nearly erect in 
the smaller, numerous from a crown at or above the surface, stouter 
than the root ; simple; hirsute throughout with white hairs, the half- 
grown fruit being scarcely visible ; leaves 3 inches in length, on fur- 
rowed petioles, one inch long; leaflets 7-13, short-petioled, oblong to 
