( 495 .) 
OXY'TROPIS* *. 
Linr.can Class and Order. Diade'lpiiia f, Deca'ndria. 
Natural Order. Legumino's.e, Juss. Gen. PI. p. 345 — Sm. 
Gram, of Bot. p. 174. — Lindl. Syn. p. 75.; Introd. to Nat. Syst. of 
Bot. p. 87. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 532. — Sm. Engl. FI. v. iii. p. 
259. — Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 509. — Don’s Gen. Syst. of Gard. and 
Bot. v. ii. p. 91. — Mack. FI. Hibern. p. 73. — Hook. Brit. FI. (4th 
edit.) p. 404. — Legumina'cea;, Loud. Arb. Brit. p. 561. — Papi- 
liona'cea: Linn. — Rosales; sect. Cicerina? ; subsect. Lo- 
ti anac ; type, Lotacea: ; subtype, Lotid-e ; Burn. Out. of Bot. 
pp. 614, 638, 642, & 644. 
Gen. Char. Calyx (fig. 1.) inferior, tubular, permanent, with 
5 acute teeth, the lower ones gradually longest. Corolla (see fig. 2.) 
papilionaceous, of 5 petals ; standard (fig. 3.) egg-shaped, blunt, 
upright, longer than the rest ; wings (fig. 4.) oblong, somewhat 
half egg-shaped, shorter than the standard ; keel (fig. 5.) as long 
as the wings, pointed in front, of 2 united petals, with separate 
claws. Filaments (see fig. 6.) 10 ; 9 united in one compressed 
tube, open above ; the tenth hair-like, usually shorter, quite sepa- 
rate. Anthers roundish. Germen (fig. 7.) oblong, compressed. 
Style (see fig. 7.) awl-shaped, ascending, smooth. Stigma blunt. 
Legume (see fig. 8.) variously shaped, more or less tumid, of 2 lon- 
gitudinal cells (see fig. 9.) ; the partition double, more or less 
complete, from the upper suture being turned inwards. Seed one 
or more, kidney-shaped. 
The pointed keel of the corolla ; the awl-shaped, smooth style; 
the blunt stigma ; and the 2-celled, or partially 2-celled, legume , 
with the margins of the upper suture turned inwards ; will distin- 
guish this from other genera in the same class and order. — It differs 
from Astragalus, t. 453, in the keel of the corolla being pointed , 
not blunt; and in the upper suture of the legume, not the under, 
being indexed. 
Two species British. 
OXY'TROPIS CAMPE'STRIS. Field Axe-vetch. Mountain 
Mdk-vetch. Cream-coloured Milk-vetch. 
Spec. Char. Plant stemless, somewhat silky. Leadets many 
pairs, spear-shaped, acut£, hoary, or rather hairy. Scape ascend- 
ing, about the same length as the leaves. Flowers cream-coloured. 
Legumes upright, egg-shaped, inflated, hairy, half 2-celled. 
Oxy'tropis campe'stris, Decand. Astr. n. 10., Prod. v. ii. p. 278. — Gray’s 
Nat. Avr. v. ii. p. 608. — Lindt. Syn. p. 79 — Hook. Brit. Ft. p. 325. — Don’s Gen. 
Syst. of Gard, and Bot. v. ii. p. 251. — Macr. Man. Brit Bot. p. 56. — Irv. Loml. FI. 
p. 208. — Astragalus campestris, Linn. Sp. l’l. p. 1072. — Engl. Bot. t. 2522. — 
Fig. 1. Calyx, and a Bractea.-* -Fig. 2. Corolla. — Fig. 3. Standard. — Fig. 4. A 
Wing. — Fig. 5. Keel. — Fig. 6. Stamens. — Fig, 7. Germen, Style, and Stigma. — 
Fig. 8. Legume. — Fig. 9. Transverse section of the same, slio wing the indexed 
upper suture.— All very slightly enlarged. 
* From o.rys, Gr. sharp ; and tropis, Gr. a keel ; in reference to the keel of 
the corolla ending in an exserted sharp point on the back at the apex, one of the 
essential characters of this Genus, as distinguishing it from that of Astragalus, 
t. 453, -f See fol. 77, note t. t See fol. 117, note f. 
