oblong, obtuse, slightly petiolulate j stipules minute, triangular ; racemes ob-
Jong, spicate, many-flowered; peduncles much longer than the leaves ; calyx:
pubescent with blackish hairs, with very short subulate teeth, at length withering;
legumes elliptical-ovoid, obtuse at each end, not flattened, glabrous
raised on a long filiform stipe. ’
“ Borders of woods near the sea, St. Barbara, California. April.—A robust
plant, about 3 feet high, nearly glabrous when old. Flowers rather small
ochroieucous. Stipe almost as long as the pod.—Allied to P. alpina but
with more conspicuous teeth to the calyx, a different pod, &c.” Nuttall?-
7. P. canescens (Nutt.! mss.): “ tomentose-eanescent; leaflets 10-15
pairs, small, oval or oblong, obtuse, scarcely petiolulate ; stipules membranaceous,
very small, triangular-subulate; raceme many-flowered rather loose-
on peduncles twice the length of the leaves ; the flowers nodding ; teeth of
the calyx subulate, rather shorter than the tube; Vexillum elongated ; legumes
u , ’ obtuse> shghtly puberulent, raised on a slender stipe.
With the preceding but on dry plains.—Scarcely a foot high, with smaller
and less crowded leaflets than P. trichopoda, which it resembles in most
respects: the flowers are larger, the peduncles longer, &c. The filiform
stipe is about twice the length of the calyx.” Nuttall.
8. P. frig id a (Linn.): erect, nearly glabrous, a little branched; leaflets
4 5 pairs, oblong-ovate, somewhat hairy beneath and on the margins; stipules
large, foliaceous, ovate-oblong, ciliate ; calyx pubescent on the margin;
^ P ;tate, oblong^ inflated, membranaceous. Hook. ft. Bor-Am. 1. v.
J40. P. frigid a & alpina, Linn, ccuct, ' r ‘
0. Americana (Hook. 1. c.)r legumes glabrous.—P. frigida, Richard:»,
app. Frankl. jozern. ed. 2. p. 28. - '
y . littoralis (Hook. 1. c.J: calyx and legumes hirsute with black hairs ;
stem lower; leaflets canescently pubescent beneath.
/?. Woody regions o f the Rocky Mountains, lat. 52°-56°, to Slave Lake,
Richardson, Drummond, y. Arctic shores, Mackenzie River, and Behring’s
Straits. Hook. Racemes many-flowered. Stipe of the legume scarcely
longer than the calyx. 1
11 Flowers purplish Or white.
9- F*. densifolia (Smith): stem decumbent, branching, glabrous; leaflets
14-16 pairs, oblong-oval, emarginate, villous-tomentose (as well astherachis)
beneath; peduncles and calyx villous; raceme compact, many-flowered;
legume membranaceous, ovate, very large, inflated, nearly glabrous, reticulated.
Hook. % Am.—Smith, in Rees, cycl. j DC, prodr. 2. p. 274; Hook &
Am . bot. Beechey, p. 138. ”
California Menzies, Beechey.—Flowers nodding, reddish. Peduncles
the length of the leaf. Leaflets obovate. DCs—We have never seen this
species.
10. P. neglecta: nearly glabrous; stem erect, branching; leaflets 5-8
pairs elliptical, petiolulate, minutely puberulent with appressed hairs beneath •
stipules triangular-ovate, minute ; peduncles about the length of the leaves-
racemes oblong, many-flowered, at length rather loose ; the flowers (white)
reflexed; calyx tubular-campanulate, pubescent (as well as the pedicels) With
black hairs, the subulate teeth much shorter than the tube; legume sessile
glabrous, coriaceo-membranaceous, globose-ovate, pointed, very turgid flattened
on the upper side and deeply grooved by the introflexion of the placental
suture. r
Gravelly banks of rivers and lakes, throughout the Western part of New-
York from Onondaga Lake to the Falls of Niagara, Mr. Cooper! Dr. J.
Sm ith ! Dr. Sartwell! Dr. K innicutt! Mr.J. Carey! Also Wisconsin,
Mr. La pham! June-July.—Plant 1-2 feet high, rather slender: stem terete,
even. Leaflets about three-fourths of an inch long, obtuse, sometimes
emarginate, beneath a little grayish with a very minute appressed pubescence.
Raceme with 10-20 flowers, nearly the size of those of Astragalus Canadensis,
pure white. Legumes about J of an inch in length, somewhat flattened posteriorly
; the dorsal suture slightly introflexed; the thickened and spongy ventral
suture rather deeply, so that the fruit is imperfectly 2-ceUed. Seeds numerous,
small.—Greatly resembles Astragalus Canadensis in habit and foli-
age, with which it has often been confounded. A true Phaca; but the placental
suture is introflexed as in Oxytropis.
11. P . astragalina (DC.): minutely hairy or somewhat glabrous ; stem
short, ascending; leaflets 8-10 pairs, oval, slightly petiolulate, minutely hirsute
with appressed hairs beneath; stipules ovate, loliaceous, nearly free, the
lower ones scarious; peduncles at length longer than the leaves; flowers
(violet) in a somewhat capitate raceme, spreading; the teeth of the calyx
rather acute, almost as long as the tube; legumes pendulous, elliptical, inflated,
raised on a short stipe,- minutely hirsute (as well as the calyx, pedicels,
&c.) with blackish hairs.—D C. ! Astrag. p. 52, prodr. 2. p. 274;
Richards. ! app. Frankl.journ. ed. 2. p. 28; Hook.! Jl. Bor.-Am. l.p . 144.
Astragalus alpinus, L in n .; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 472. A. montanus, Jacq. Jl.
Austr. t. 131. P. Andina, Nutt. ! mss.
Newfoundland and Labrador to the Rocky Mountains and Kotzebue’s
Sound, and throughout Arctic America, Drummond! Richardson!
Parry ! Also near Montreal, Dr. Holmes ! and Quebec, Mrs. P ercival!
Alpine summits of the Rocky Mountains, near the confines of perpetual
snow (Thornburg’s Pass), about lat. 43°, Nuttall! A native also of the Alps
of Europe, and Siberia.—Plant 3-8 inches high: the stem often wholly
subterranean. Flowers 6-12: petals deep violet at the summit.—Mr. Nutt
’s specimens of P. Andina are in fruit only* and the short stems are
■wholly subterranean and clothed with the persistent united scale-like stipules
; but some of our alpine forms of the European P. astragalina are entirely
similar.
12. P. elegans (Hook.) : nearly glabrous; stem somewhat, branching,
erect or assurgent, angled; leaflets 5-7 pairs, oblong, obtuse, cuneate at the
base, glabrous above, clothed with minute appressed hairs beneath; stipules
ovate, acute, somewhat connate at the base; raceme compact, elongating in
fruit, the peduncles longer than the leaves ; flowers bright and deep purplish
.? 5 ■legumes sessile, elliptical, inflated, membranaceous, apiculate, velvety
with black hairs, 3—5-seeded. Hook. Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 144.
0. minor (Hook. 1. c.): stem ascending, smaller; raceme shorter.
Prairies in the Rocky Mountains: 0. on the higher summits, Drummond.
• lh e plant in the plains is 12-18 inches high; the leaflets nearly an inch
mng, somewhat glaucous beneath ; the blackish legumes f of an inch long,
densely hairy. The var. 8. is much smaller, with rounded racemes, more
spreading flowers, and approaches P. astragalina; but the flowers are smaller
and of a deeper color, and the leaflets are narrower. Hook.
13. P. debilis (Nutt.! mss.): “ somewhat pubescent; stem slender, nearly
simple, decumbent; leaves on rather long petioles; leaflets 8-11 pairs, cune-
ate-oblong, somewhat truncate or emarginate at the apex, petiolulate, minutely
hirsute with appressed hairs beneath; stipules triangular-oblong, acuminate,
slightly adnate to the base of the petiole; peduncles longer than the
leaves ; flowers (purplish) somewhat capitate; calyx pubescent with grayish
hairs, the subulate teeth about the length of the tube; vexillum deeply emarginate
; legume.......
“Plains of the Rocky Mountains, near streams.—A slender species, quite
smooth below. Leaflets about one-fourth of an inch in length ; those of the
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