j 3. Stems elongated: stipules not adnate to the petiole: leajlets not ver-
licillate.—Caulescentes, DC.
16. O. deflexa (DC.): stem ascending-, somewhat hairy; leaflets ovate-
oanceolate, pubescent; peduncles much longer than the leaves; legumes pendulous,
hairy, 1-celled, opening widely at the summit. DC. prodr. 2. p. 280;
Richards. app. Frankl. journ. ed. 2. p. 28; Hook. ft. Bor.-Am. 1 . p. 148.
Astragalus deflexus, Pall, in mem., acad. St. Petersb. 1776, t. 15; VH e r
stirp. t. 80, ex DC. A hians, Jacq. ic. rar. t. 252, ex DC. A. parviflorus!
Dam. A. retroflexus, Pall. Astrag. t. 27. ’
ft. sericea : leaves silky -villous.
Banks of the SaskatcKawan, Richardson. Drummond, ft. Rocky Mountains
near streams, Nuttall /—Flowers very small. Fruit large. Hook. s.
Branching from the. base Scapes 6-12 inches long. Spikes subglobose or
ovate. Flowers about J of an inch long. Calyx villous, with a mixture of
blackish hairs ; teeth subulate, nearly as long as the tube, and spreading. Co-
rolia a little exceeding the calyx, pale dull purple, mixed with white. Keel
with a short but acute point. Legume ^ of an inch long, very acute, sessile..
35. PHACA. Linn.; DC. Astrag., prodr.2. p. 273.
Calyx 5-toothed or 5-cleft; the 2 upper teeth often a little remote from each
other. Keel obtuse. Legume mostly turgid or inflated, 1-celled; the upper
or placental suture somewhat tumid.—Mostly perennial herbs, with axillary
pedunculate racemes. Legumes when mature often resupinate by the twisting
of the pedicels.
§ !■ (an gen. ?) Leaves palmately trifoliolate. (Acaulescent, densely cces-
pitose: stipules scarious, united beneath the petiole: Jlowers sessile at
the base o f the leaves, or on short scapes.)—O r o p h a c a .
J- P- ceespitosa (Nutt.) : stemless, caespitose, silky-pubescent and silvery;;
root fusiform; caudex very short; leaves on long petioles ; leaflets lanceolate
acute at each end; stipules (large) ovate, very thin and scarious ; flowers
(ochroleucous) aggregated and sessile at the base of the leaves ; calyx cylindrical,
with short subulate teeth; legume silky-villous, oblong-ovate, terete included
in the calyx.—Nutt.! gen.2.p. 98; DC. prodr. 2. p. 274; Hook. ft.
Bor.-Am. 1. p. 443, t. 55. Astragalus triphyllus, Pursh! ft. 2. p. 740, not of
Pallas. '
Dry gravelly hills o f the upper part of the Missouri, Bradbury! Nuttall !
and on the Saskatchawan, Richardson, Drumm.ond. May.—Root thick
and perpendicular, with numerous very short heads at the summit. Petioles
2—3 inches long : leaflets (sometimes 5, ex Nutt.') nearly an inch long attenuate
at the base, clothed with a short shining closely appressed pubescence.
Flowers rather large, aggregated in a dense cluster which is closely sessile on
the summit of the caudex. Bracts like the stipules. Calyx at length a little
inflated and somewhat campanulate.
2. P. argophylla (Nutt, mss.): “ stemless, caespitose, densely silky-villous
and silvery; leaflets short, euneate-oblaneeolate, rather obtuse; stipules scarious,
bifid and acute ; flowers (ochroleucous) densely aggregated and sessile
at the base of the leaves ; teeth of the calyx subulate, nearly as long as the
tube ; legumes short and roundish, densely villous.
“ Summits of mountains on the upper waters of the Platte.—A very curious
species, nearly related to P. ceespitosa, but with broader and shorter leaflets,
smaller flowers, &c. The whole plant is silvery-white and as soft as
cotton to the touch: the young legumes appear like pellets of cotton.” Nuttall.
3- P- sericea (Nutt.! mss.) : “ dwarf, depressed, densely and canescently
suky-villous ; caudex diffusely branched; flowering branches very short
thickly clothed with the imbricated scarious lacerated and very hairy stipules;
leaves small, on rather slender petioles; leaflets cuneate-oval or oblanceolate;
(flowers purple, very numerous) ; peduncles filiform, a little longer than the
leaves, 2- 6-flowered; segments of the calyx subulate, about the length of the
tube; legume (young) small, acuminate, many-seeded, villous.”
On the high hills of the Platte near the Rocky Mountains.—A very elegant
and curious species, forming a dense tuft, spreading from a few inches
to a foot or more in diameter, densely clothed in every part with a silvery
villous pubescence. Leaves crowded: leaflets scarcely one-fourth of an
inch long. Stipules large, very thin, villous on the outside, and closely imbricated,
so that the branches appear to be clothed with a thick woolly covering.
Bracts subulate. Flowers small, fine purple.” Nuttall.
§ 2. Leaves unequally pinnate, rarely 1-3-foliolale.—P haca proper.
* Legumes large, membranaceous, much inflated.
t F low e r s o ch ro leu co u s.
4. P. megacarpa (Nutt.! mss.) : “ almost stemless, at length nearly glabrous;
leaves on long petioles; leaflets 4-6 pairs, roundish, slightly petiolu-
late, rather distant and often somewhat alternate; racemes few- ( 3- 6-) flowered,
much shorter than the leayes; flowers very large; calyx tubular the
lanceolate-subulate teeth rather shorter than the tube; legumes very large
and much inflated, ovate, acuminate, glabrous, nearly sessile.
“ Plains of the Rocky Mountains.—A rather robust species, with numerous
short subterranean stems an inch or two in .length, somewhat toothed
with the short persistent stipules ; somewhat allied to Astragalus longiflorus
but a true Phaca; the pods never pulpy, and the petioles not adnate to the
petiole.” Nuttall. About a span high. Leaves a little succulent at first
slightly strigose: leaflets about half an inch in breadth, broadly ovate or
roundish oval, often emarginate. Flowers nearly an inch in length: vexil-
lum! emarginate. Legumes 2J inches long and an inch in width when mature,
many-seeded.
----„ 01)allugly uiimuncu, puuescent or
nearly glabrous ; leaves on short petioles, canescently pubescent when young-
leaflets approximated, 15-19 pairs, linear-oblong, somewhat narrowed at the
base, obtuse, often emarginate, villous-tomentose on the midrib beneath • stipules
membranaceous, triangular, acuminate; peduncles longer than the
leaves; raceme spicate; calyx nearly glabrous, the teeth subulate about half
the length of the tube; legume large, inflated, at first pubescent, ventricose-
ly carinate, acuminated with the pointed style, sessile; flowers ochroleucous
the keel tipped with a pale purple spot.”—P. inflata, Nutt.! mss., not of Gillies
“ Borders of woods near the sea, St. Barbara, California. April.—Allied'
to P. trichopoda, but with a somewhat different habit, large flowers and sessile
pods.” Nuttall.—Apparently near P. densifolia, Smith; a Californian
species which we know only from the description, and which Mr. Nuttall
seems not to have met with ; but that species is said to have reddish flowers
&c. The raceme or spike is oblong, rather compact, with the flowers at
length reflexed. The calyx when young is pubescent with blackish hairs.
6. P. trichopoda (Nutt.! mss.): “ slightly pubescent; stem stout and
erect, branching; leaves subsessile; leaflets 16-20 pairs, approximated, linear