72 
Spring Flora of Oklahoma 
Leaves pinnate; valves of the pod leath¬ 
ery; flowers in racemes. 
IV. Melilotus. 
Leaves digitate; pod valves thin; flowers 
in heads. V. Trifolium. 
Leaves several to many-foliate. 
Shrubs or small trees; stems spiny; flowers 
white. X. Robinia. 
Herbs, at most woody only at the base. 
Keel prolonged into a beak. XIII. Oxytropis. 
Keel not prolonged into a beak. 
Pod fleshy, indehiscent. XI. Geoprumnon. 
Pod membranous, leathery or woody, dehis¬ 
cent. XII. Astragalus. 
I. SOPHORA L. 
Low, perennial herbs with pinnate many-foliate leaves 
and dense racemes of white, yellow, or violet flowers. 
Stamens 10, the filaments distinct or nearly so. Pods 
stalked in the calyx, terete, constricted between the sub- 
globose seeds, mainly indehiscent. 
1. Sophora sericea Nutt. Silky Sophora. Herbaceous, woody 
at the base. Branched, silky or silvery pubescent with appressed 
hairs. Stipules subulate. Leaves short-petioled. Leaflets 7-25, short- 
stalked, obovate or elliptic, obtuse or emarginate at the apex, nar¬ 
rowed or cuneate at the base, 3"-6" long. Flowers white. Pod dry, 
coriaceous, pubescent, few-seeded. 
Plains and prairies. April-June. Central part of the state. 
II. BAPTISIA Vent. 
Perennial, erect, branching herbs, with sheathing, 
basal scales, alternate 3-foliolate or sometimes simple, 
perfoliate leaves and showy yellow, white or blue flow¬ 
ers in terminal or lateral racemes. Stipules foliaceous. 
Calyx campanulate, 4-5-lobed. Ovary stipulate. Pod 
stalked, ovoid, oblong or nearly globose, pointed, inflated. 
