MEDICAGO FALCATA, A YELLOW-FLOWERED ALFALFA. | 19 
Roots——Medicago falcata differs to a -considerable degree from 
Medicago sativa in having a much more branching root system. In 
comparatively few cases is a single taproot developed, while the 
entire absence of the taproot proper is very common. In the majority 
of plants, however, there is a tendency toward the development of a 
much-branched taproot and a large number of small lateral roots. 
_ Meyer reports taproots of remarkable size on wild plants growing on 
the sandy banks of the Tom River, near Tomsk, Siberia. Some of 
these large roots were more than 2 inches in diameter at the crown 
and more than 1 inch in diameter at a depth of 14 feet; a few of them > 
extended to a depth of more than 33 feet. Such a taproot develop- 
Fic. 6.—Medicago falcata, 8. P. I. No. 28071, a 3-year-old plant grown at Highmore, 
S. Dak. Note the new plants that have developed from true lateral roots. 
ment, however, is very uncommon in the species and occurs only in 
sandy or loose soils. A peculiar root system characterized by a 
branched taproot from which horizontal lateral roots are produced 
is found in some forms. The lateral roots give rise to aerial shoots, 
which develop ultimately into perfect and in some cases independent 
plants. (Fig. 6.) This type of proliferation has been previously 
described by the writers (45). It does not appear to be correlated 
with general habit of growth or with any important plant characters, 
although, as far as has been observed, it is not found in plants of the 
very low spreading habit. It is common in S. P. I. Nos. 24455, 28070, 
28071, and 23625. The first two of these numbers were introduced 
