Oxytropis . ] xxvi. leguminos^e : astragaleas. 107 
verge with a rounded sinus between them : in the next they diverge 
forming an acute angle. 
2. L. major Scop. ( narrow-leaved B.) ; heads depressed um- 
bellate 8 — 12-flowered, peduncles very long, calycine teeth 
subulate from an angular base always spreading, the two upper 
ones diverging, claw of the standard linear, leaflets obovate, 
stems nearly erect tubular. E. B. t. 2091. 
Sides of ditches and moist bushy places, by no means unfrequent. 
1/.. 7, 8. — The place of growth of this plant, in moister situations 
than L. corniculatus, consequently inducing a greater development of 
every part, is, in itself, almost sufficient to account for the trifling 
variations which distinguish it from that well-known species, to which 
it has been united by Mr. Bentham. It is sometimes nearly glabrous, 
but usually hairy ; and a very hairy state has been gathered in 
Ireland. 
3. L. angustissimus L. (slender B.) ; villous, heads 1 — 4- 
flowered, peduncles scarcely twice as long as the leaves, leaflets 
ovate-lanceolate, calyx-teeth straight in the bud as long as the 
tube or longer, stems procumbent, legumes slender. — a. minor ; 
heads 1 — 2-flowered, legumes about 6 times longer than the 
calyx often 20-seeded. L. diffusus E. B. t. 925. — 13. major ; 
heads 2 — 4-flowered, legumes rugose shorter and broader about 
2 — 3 times the length of the calyx about 12-seeded. L. hispidus 
Desf. : E. B. S. t. 2823. 
South of England, very rare. — a. Castle rock at Hastings, Sus- 
sex ; at Kingsteignton and Bishopsteignton, Devon : Stokes Bay, 
near Gosport, Hants. Strand, near Passage, Ireland. Jersey. — /3. 
Cornwall, near the Lizard and Penzance ; Devonshire. Q. 6 — 8. 
— Flowers much smaller, and aspect very different from any of the 
preceding. The more luxuriant the specimens are, the thicker and 
shorter is the legume : in this respect our British specimens of the 
var. /8. accord better with L. hispidus Desf. as originally described 
from cultivated plants, than do wild ones from the south of Europe. 
Sometimes var. a. has the legume only ^ a line thick and 12 lines long, 
3nd /8. a line thick and only 6 lines long; but numerous intermediate 
states may be observed. The characters usually derived from the 
relative length of the calyx-tube and teeth, the length of the peduncles, 
the beak of the legumes, and the shape of the leaflets and stipules, only 
apply to British specimens, and are quite insufficient to separate foreign 
ones of these two varieties. 
Tribe III. Astragale/e. Legume spuriously and longitudi- 
nally 1 -or 2-celled, by the introjlexion of one of the sutures. 
Stamens diadelphous (9 and 1). Stems herbaceous , or some- 
what shrubby. Leaves pinnate. (Gen. 11, 12.) 
11. Oxytropis De Cand. Oxytropis. 
Keel with a narrow point. Legume tumid 2-celled (more or 
F 6 
