MEDICAGO FALCATA, A YELLOW-FLOWERED ALFALFA. 15 
very large ascending plants with long, erect stems, as well as the 
broad-crowned forms, have few flowers to the raceme. The upright 
bushy plants with stiff stems and narrow greenish gray leaves have, in 
general, the largest racemes. <A great abundance of flowers does not 
appear to be characteristic of any special form of the species. The 
compactness of the raceme is dependent to a large extent on the © 
length of the pedicel, the size of flower, and the arrangement on the 
axis. Compact racemes are usually small, and the flowers are ar- 
ranged at more regular intervals than they are in the loose racemes. 
The flowers of J/edicago falcata usually come into bloom earlier 
than those of Medicago sativa. However, the broad-crowned pro- 
cumbent to decumbent plants of the former are especially late in 
blooming. The flowering period is much longer than in the case of 
Medicago sativa, frequently extending from May to October in South 
Dakota. 
Pods.—The pods vary greatly in proportion of width to length 
and range in shape from almost straight to semicircular or more 
¢ web ett 
Fic. 3.—The common types of pods of Medicago falcata. 
nearly coiled, even in what appear to be pure strains of the species. 
The average pod is crescent or sickle shaped, reticulate veined, 
without glandular hairs, but in some cases slightly pubescent. When 
mature they are light brown to almost black in color. (Fig. 3.) 
On pod characters it is possible to distinguish two fairly distinct 
types of plants. Type 1.—Pods short, broad in comparison to length, 
of medium thickness, nearly straight, and pointed. Pods of this 
type are light brown to dark brown in color, dehisce readily upon 
approaching maturity, and on the average contain one less seed than 
the average for the species. They are confined almost exclusively to 
the more nearly erect stiff-stemmed types of plants and are found 
abundantly in S. P. I. Nos. 20721 and 20722. They are well illustrated 
by pods Nos. 8, 9, and 10 in the top row of figure 3. It was to plants 
having pods of this general form that the varietal name stenocarpa 
(Reich.) (49) was apparently intended to apply. Type 2.—Pods 
long, narrow in proportion to length, sickle shaped to nearly coiled, 
brown to almost black in color. The general type is illustrated by 
