diadelphia! decandria. Psoralea. 
petiolata, digitato- quinata. Foliola subpetiolata, lanceo- 
lata, utrinqae acuta, integerrima, plana, supra glabra, 
punctis vix conspicuis confertissime adspersa, subtus 
pilosa, uncialia. Petioli communes teretes, folio lon- 
giores. Stipulce persistentes, ad basin petiolorum op- 
positae, oblongo-lanceolatae, acutae. Spicee axillares, 
pedunculatae, densiflorae, bracteatae, foliis longiores. 
Bractece lato-ovatae, acuminatae, calyce breviores. 
Flores sessiles, caerulei, magnitudine et figura Vicies 
sativee. Calyx hirsutissimus, 5-fidus s. profunde 5- 
dentatus : dentibus lineari-lanceolatis : 2. lateralibus 
subfalcatis : inferus latior. Corolla : Vexillum obo- 
vatum, inferne utrinque glandula instructum, calyce 
paulo longiore. Jlce semi-ovafae, vexillo breviores. 
Carina oh\oug 2 i. Legumen ceiXycQ ieciwva, monosper- 
mura, hirsutum, rostro ensiformi, glabro, calyce lon- 
giore instructum. Semen reniforme, nigrum. 
It approaches very near to P. pentaphylla Willd. sp. 
pL 3. p. 1352. u hich is fully described and figured by 
B. Jussieu in Act. par. 1744. p. 381. f. 17* But not 
only the botanical difference, but the medical use 
made of the Mexican plant, proves their distinctness. 
The present plant produces the famous Bread-root of 
the American Western Indians, on which they partly 
subsist in winter. They collect them in large quanti- 
ties, and if for present use, they roast them in the ashes, 
when they give a food similar to yams : if intended 
for winter use, they are carefully dried, and preserved 
in a dry place in their huts. When wanted for use, 
they are mashed between two stones, mixed with some 
whaler, and baked in cakes over the coals. It is a 
wholesome and nourishing food, and, according to 
Mr. Lewis’s observation, agreeable to most constitu- 
tions 5 which, he observed, was not the case with the 
rest of the roots collected by those Indians for food. 
This root has been frequently found by travellers in 
the canoes of the Indians, but the plant which pro- 
duces it has not been known until lately. 
7 . P. foliis quino-digitatis : foliolis angustissime linearibus, 
spica paucifiora, leguminibus ovoideis, uncinato-mu- 
cronatis, nervoso-rugosis. — ABch.Ji. amer, 2. p. 58. 
In barren fields of Carolina. I/ . v.s. in Herb. Lyon. 
Flowers very small. The leaves of the whole genus 
are covered with resinous dots. 
