3-4-flowered; pedicels short, bracts linear, half as long as the cylindrical
elongated blackish hairy calyx. Hook.Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 152.
Dry gravelly banks of rivers ; upper part of the Oregon to the mountains,
Douglas. April-May.—Plant about 5 inches high, with densely woolly ana
whitish foliage, which the large flowers of its numerous peduncles, of a rich
purple-blue color, just exceed in height. The legumes were not obtained. Hook.
****Stipules cohering neither with each other nor with the petiole: jlowers in dense
spikes or heads : legumes straight: root annual.
2o. A. lep'oearpus : erect or assurgentj branched from the base, somewhat
pubescent; leaflets 6-8 pairs, cuneate-elliptical, retuse ; stipules lanceolate,
acuminate ; peduncles longer than the leaves ; spikes ovate, few-(3- 7-) flow-
rej, loose; bracts subulate, rather minute; calyxcampanulate; the teeth subulate,
shorter than the tube; legumes linear, very narrow, elongated, membranaceous,
glabrous. 2-celled, 11- 12-seeded.
Near the Sabine River, Dr. Leavenworth ! Texas, Drummond! April.
~ S tem about a foot long, with somewhat spreading branches. Leaflets 4-5
lines long, a little hairy on the midrib beneath, glabrous above. Flowers deep
purplish-blue, half an inch long. Calyx clothed with appressed dark-colored
hairs. Vexillum broadly obovate : keel broad, obtuse, with a narrow furrow
along the back—We have an Astragalus without fruit,collected in California
by Douglas, which vve can hardly distinguish from this species.
26. A. reflerus: assurgent; stem and lower surface of the leaves hairy;
leaflets 6-7 pairs, cuneate-obovate, emarginate; stipules ovate-lanceolate
(rather large), acute; peduncles longer than the leaves; spikes ovate, few-
6- 10-) flowered, the flowers spreading; bracts minute; calyx campanulate,
the teeth subulate, longer than the tube; legumes ovate-oblong, rather acute,
reflexed, thick and coriaceous, corrugated transversely, glabrous, 2-celled; the
upper suture nearly straight and prominently ridged, the lower deeply intro-
flexed ; cells 3-4-seed ed y 3
Texas, Drummond !—A foot or more in height, slender, branched. Leaflets
half an inch long, usually truncate and emarginate. Flowers one-third of
an inch long, purplish. Vexillum narrow, elongated: keel obtusely rostrate
much longer than the wings. Legumes one-third of an inch long, somewhat
triangular. A remarkable species, resembling Oxytropis in its rostrate keel;
but the legume is that of a genuine Astragalus.
***** Stipules cohering neither with each other, nor with the petiole : jlowers purple
or white : legumes curved ; root annual. 27 *
27. A. Nuttallianus (DC.) : decumbent or assurgent, minutely pubescent;
leaflets 5-7 pairs, linear-oblong or elliptical, the lower ones emarginate, glabrous
above; stipules lanceolate, acute; peduncles a little longer than the
leaves; heads 3—8-flowered ; the flowers somewhat umbellate and spreading;
bracts minute, ovate, shorter than the pedicels ; calyx campanulate, deeply 5-
deft; segments lanceolate, acute; legume linear, somewhat arcuate and turned
upwards, bicarinate. glabrous, reticulated; cells 6-seeded.— DC. ! prodr.
2. p. 289. A. micranthus, Nutt.! in jour. acad. Philad. 3. p. 122, not of
Desv.
0. trir.hocarpus: heads 3-5-flowered ; calyx and ovary nearly hispid; legumes
hairy.
Naked places in th" prairies of Red River and the Arkansas, Nuttall ! Dr.
Leavenworth ! B. Texas, Drummond ! Mav.-June.—Stem 10-18 inches
high, branched from the base. Leaflets 4-5 lines long, pubescent with
appressed hairs beneath. Flowers one-third of an inch long, blue. Ovary
glabrous. Legume 8—10 lines long, and ljlin e wide, slightly curved towards
the base, with a short abrupt point. Seeds somewhat truncate.—In Dr. Leavenworth’s
and in Drummond’s specimens the legumes are straighter longer
and less tumid than in Mr. Nuttall’s; but in other respects thev agree extremely
well. 1 ■
§ 2. Stipules not cohering with the petiole: flowers ochroleucous.—
Ochroleuci, D C.
♦ Stipules not cohering with each other: legumes often curved: root annual.
28. A. multicaulis (Nutt.! mss.): “ canescent; stems much branched from
the base and carspitose ; leaflets 3-6 pairs* mostly obovate, obtuse ; stipules
ovate, membranaceous; racemes 3-5-flowered, shorter than the leaves; bracts
subulate; calyx campanulate; the teeth broadly subulate, as long as the tube'
legumes oblong, very hairy, much curved, inflated, acute, partly 2-celled the’
upper suture sulcate.
“ Dry sterile hills near Ham’s Fork of the Colorado of the West. June.__
Apparently biennial. [If ?] Stems about four or five inches high, intricately
branched, the lower part usually buried in the sand. Leaflets 3-4 lines long
* lowers nearly white, with a tinge of dull purple.” Nm« .—Perhaps not referred
to its proper station in the genus. The flowers are apparently ochroleucous;
but the root seems to be perennial.
* * Stipules cohering with each other.
29. A. Oreganus (Nutt. 1 mss.) : “ dwarf and decumbent, canescent
with appressed hairs; leaflets 17-21, broadly obovate or obcordate; stipules
membranaceous; peduncle terminal, very short; spike somewhat capitate;
bracts linear, more than half the length of the blackish villous calyx; teeth of
the calyx about one-third the length of the lube.
“ Plains of the Rocky Mountain rapge towards the sources of the Oregon.
Several stems from one root, about 6 inches long, scarcely branched. Flowers
as large as in A. Canadensis. Legumes not seen.” Nuttall.
flavus (Nutt.! mss.) : “ somewhat canescent with appressed hairs
diffusely branched and decumbent; leaflets 2-5 pairs, oblong, or lanceolate-
linear, rather acute, nearly glabrous above; stipules united opposite the leaves •
peduncles longer than the leaves ; spikes at length elongated and loose ; calyx
campanulate; the teeth subulate, nearly as long as the tube; legumes
mostly included in the calyx, oblong-ovate, much compressed contrary to the
sutures, with a broad and rather deep furrow below, partly 2-celled.” ’
li. lJje central chain of the Rocky Mountains, towards the Oregon.
Nuttall.— Steins 6-8 inches long, rather slender. Spikes 10-15-flowered;
the flowers rather bright yellow. Legumes about one-third of an inch lonv ;
the sutures closely approximated ; the upper one a little prominent, forming
a ridge along a broad shallow depression.
* * Stipules not cohering with each other: spikes pedunculate: legumes sessile: root
perennial.
31. A. Canadensis (Linn.) : tall and erect, canescent; stipules broadly
lanceolate, acuminate, leaflets usually about 10 (rarely 12-14) pairs elliptical
or oblong, obtuse; peduncles about as long as the leaves; spikes oblong or
elongated; bracts subulate, nearly as long as the calyx; flowers spreading
and partly reflexed; legumes ovate-oblong, terete, erect, coriaceous <riabrous,
2-celled, many-seeded; the upper suture prominent and acute.__Willd
sp. 3. p . 1274; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 472; Ell. sk. 2. p. 227; Hook. fl. Bo r-
Am. l.p . 152. A. Carolmianus, L in n .; Michx. ! fl. 2. p. 66 ; Pursh l c -