138 LEGUMINOS^E. (PULSE FAMILY.) 



# * Flowers all alike and perfect, in close spikes or heads : corolla whitish or cream- 

 color with a purple spot on the standard, about the length of the downy calyx : 

 stems upright, wand-like (2° -4° high). 



5. L. hirta, Ell. Peduncles longer than the leaves; petioles slender; leaflets 

 roundish or oval, hairy ; spikes cylindrical, rather loose ; pods nearly as long as 

 the calyx. (L. polystachia, Michx. ) — Dry hillsides. 



6. L. capitata, Michx. Peduncles and petioles short ; stems rigid, woolly ; 

 leaflets elliptical or oblong, thickish, reticulated and mostly smooth above, silky 

 beneath ; spikes or heads short ; pods much shorter than the calyx. — Varies 

 greatly, most of all in var. angustif6lia : slender ; leaflets linear ; peduncles 

 sometimes elongated. — Dry and sandy soil; the narrow variety only fo^md 

 near the coast and southward. 



21. STYLOSANTHES, Swartz. Pencil-Elower. 



Calyx early deciduous ; the tube slender and stalk-like ; the limb unequally 

 4-5-cleft, the lower lobe more distinct. Corolla and monadelphous stamen: 

 inserted at the summit of the calyx-tube : standard orbicular : keel incurved. 

 Anthers 10, the 5 longer ones fixed near their base, and the 5 alternate shorter 

 ones fixed by the middle. Style filiform, its upper part falling off after flower- 

 ing, the lower part incurved or hooked, and persistent on the apex of the 1 - 

 2-jointed small and short reticulated pod, the lower joint when present empty 

 and stalk-like. — Low perennials, branched from the base, with wiry stems, 

 pinnately 3-foliolate leaves, the sheathing stipules united to the petiole, no 

 stipels, and small, yellow flowers in terminal heads or short spikes. (Name 

 composed of arrvXos, a column, and tlv8os, a flower, from the stalk-like 

 calyx-tube. ) 



1. S. elatior, Swartz. Tufted ; leaflets lanceolate, strongly straight- 

 veined ; heads or clusters small and few-flowered. — Pine barrens, Long Island, 

 New York, to Virginia, Illinois, and southward. July - Oct. 



22. VIC I A, Tourn. Vetch. Tare. 



Calyx 5-cleft or 5-toothed, the 2 upper teeth often shorter, or the lowest 

 longer. Wings of the corolla adhering to the middle of the keel. Stamens 

 more or less diadelphous (9 & 1) ; the orifice of the tube oblique. Style fili- 

 form, hairy all round or only on the back at the apex. Pod flat, 2-valved, 2 - 

 several-seeded. Seeds globular. Cotyledons very thick, remaining under 

 ground in germination. — Herbs, mostly climbing more or less by the tendril 

 at the end of the pinnate leaves. Stipules half-sagittate. Flowers or pedun- 

 cles axillary. (The classical Latin name.) 



* Annual : flowers 1-2 in the axils, nearly sessile, large, violet-purple. 



1. V. sativa, L. (Common Vetch or Tare.) Somewhat pubescent} 

 6tem simple ; leaflets 5-7 pairs, varying from obovate-oblong to linear, notched 

 and mucronate at the apex ; pod linear, several-seeded. — Cultivated fields and 

 waste places ; both the common form and the var. angustie6lia, which has 

 longer and narrow leaflets. (Adv. from Eu.) 



