1 14 inch long, thick and coriaceous, somewhat spongy externally and minutely
rugose-reticulated.—Allied to P. lotiflora: a very distinct and peculiar
species.” Nuttall. 1
30. P. mollissima (Nutt.! mss.): “ very woolly, csespitose, nearly stemless
j caudex thick, branching above; leaves petiolate; leaflets 4-6 pairs, cu-
neate-oblong, obtuse or, acutish, sessile; stipules oblong, membranaceous,
distinct ; peduncles shorter than the leaves, few-(5- 6-) flowered ; calyx tubular,
the subulate teeth much shorter than the tube; legumes extremely woolly
sessile, ovate, pointed, incurved. 1 1 ’
“ Plains of the Rocky Mountains, and on the hills of ‘ Ham’s Fork ’ of the
Colorado of the West. May.—A very remarkable specie®, on account of its
dense woolly vesture: the rather large pods appear like a mass of fine yellowish
white wool. The flowers are narrow (nearly an inch long), and ochro-
leucous with a purplish spot on the tip of the keel. The calyx is about two-
thirds the length of the petals, with a few black hairs intermixed.” Nuttall.
31. P.simplicifolia (Nutt.! mss.):' “ dwarf, very densely csespitose, silvery
canescent, stemless ; caudex much branched above ; moves crowded in
dense tufts, simple, linear or lanceolate, usually involute, acme; scapes 1- 2-
flowered. scarcely exserted ; calyx somewhat tubular; the teeth acute,'shorter
than the tube; legumes glabrous, coriaceous, sessile, somewhat triquetrous
pointed, scarcely longer than the calyx. ' ’
° f the Rocky Mountain range, towards the sources
of the Platte. A very singular alpine species, forming dense tufts sometimes
a span or two broad, not rising more than an inch or two from the ground.
Leaves almost subulate. Stipules very thin and membranous, hairy. Calyx
at length nearly glabrous. Flowers ochroleucous : vexillum oblong reflexed -
the tip of the keel purplish. Legume small, with a rigid point.” Nuttall.—
This plant has the habit of several species of Mr. Nuttall’s genus Homalobus.
We have not seen the fruit. The leaves, which are very' densely aggregated,
are probably phyllodia, or perhaps sessile leaflets. °
36. HOMALOBUS. Nutt. mss.
“ Calyx 5-toothed. Keel obtuse. Style short, recurved. Legume linear or
oblong,much compressed, several-seeded; the sutures neither introflexed nor
tumid: funiculi very long.—Perennial herbs with the aspect of Phaca, and
nearly the legumes of Ylcia. Leaves unequally pinnate, sometimes reduced
to a single leaflet. Racemes axillary or radical.”
“ The species are all more or less "alpine, and chiefly natives of the central tableland
or high hills of the Rocky Mountain chain.” Nutt.
* Caulescent : leaves pinnate with numerous leaflets, turning blackish in drying, not
rigid : racemes usually in pairs: legumes membranaceous, more or less stipitate.
•—Ervoidese.
1. H. dispar (Nutt.! mss.): “ decumbent, puberulent; stem somewhat
striate, nearly glabrous; leaves almost sessile; leaflets 6-10 pairs, linear-oblong,
obtuse ; stipules short, ovate, the lower ones united; racemes many-
flowered, loose, almost sessile, scarcely longer than the leaves, often 2-3 together;
bracts minute, shorter than the pedicels: legumes elliptical-oblong
obtuse, flat, somewhat stipitate, the stipe shorter than the calyx. Orobus
dispar, Nutt. gen. 2. p. 95. O. ? dispar, DC. prodr. 2. p. 380.
“ Dry hills around Fort Mandan, Missouri, and on the Platte, to near the
Rocky Mountains, Nuttall! June.—A spreading decumbent plant, with numerous
ochroleucous flowers. Legumes glabrous, 4-8-seeded.” Nuttall.
2. H. mullijlorus: “ nearly erect, pubescent with appressed hairs or at
length nearly glabrous; stem slightly striate ; leaflets 6-10 pairs, oblong or
linear-oblong, obtuse; stipules small, ovate, the lower ones united; racemes
usually solitary, pedunculate, many-flowered, loose, at length longer than the
leaves; bracts very minute, shorter than the pedicels ; legumes linear-oblong
acute, flat, stipitate, the stiperlonger than the calyx.” Nutt. — H. nigrescent
Nutt.! mss. Phaca nigrescens, Hook. ! fl. Bor.-Am. l.p. 143. Ervum mul-
tmorum, Pursh! fl. 2. p. 789. Astragalus tenellus, Pursh. ft 2 v 473
(partly), fide Pursh, l.c. 1
Missouri, Lewis, Bradbury ! (ex Pursh.) On the Saskatchawan and
north to Fort Franklin on the Mackenzie River, lat. 65, Richardson
Drummond! With the preceding species, Nuttall! Legumes about an
inch long, nodding, blackish, glabrous. Racemes sometimes in pairs. “ Corolla
ochroleucous; the keel tipped with dull purple.” Nutt.—Very near the
preceding specieg, from which we are unable clearly to distinguish it except
by the shape ofthe pods and the length of the stipe. According to Nuttall
this species has smaller flowers and narrower leaflets; but this is not the case
with some of our specimens from Hooker. Mr. Nuttall refers Ervum multi-
fiorum, Pursh to his H. dispar; but a fragment of Bradbury’s specimen in
our possession proves it to belong rather to the present species: probably the
two species may have been confounded, as they are said to grow together.
** Caulescent, rigid, minutely.canescent, branching plants: leaflets linear or subulate
often few or wanting: petioles persistent, and sometimes dilated: legumes sessile’
{Habit of Phaca longifolia.)—Genistoidese.
3. H. campestris (Nutt.! mss.) : “ nearly erect, stout, with rigid rush-like
branches : petioles semicylindrical, somewhat dilated towards the extremitv -
the lower ones bearing 3-5 pairs of rigid linear-subulate leaflets ; the upper
ones u-foliolate or simple ; stipules triangular-subulate; the uppermost short -
racemes 5-10-flowered, loose; calyx hirsute with black hairs, with short subulate
teeth ; legumes pubeseent, long and straight, compressed.
Sandy plains of the Colorado of the West, near the sources ofthe Platte
—About a foot high. Flowers ochroleucous, slightly tinged with nurnle
[about as large asm Vicia Cracca] : bracts shorter than the pedicels.P Legumes
about an inch m length. The petioles are dilated at the extremitv into
a very long lmear-subulate leaflet, as in Phaca longifolia.” Nuttall. Y
f ¥ 'Ifuf lce^ s i Np tt. ! mss.) : “ erect, slender, much branched ; radical petioles
bearing 1-2 the cauline ones filiform and leafless
, stipules broadly triangular, minute; peduncles very lono- the flowers few
and remote ; bracts scarcely any; teeth of the calyx very 'short and obtuse -
legumes long, linear, straight, puberulent. e ’
“With the preceding and in sandy places in the Rocky Mountain ramre
towards the Oregon. Smaller and much more slender than the preceding
Legumes an inch long, narrow, many-seeded.” Nuttall.
5. H. orthocarbus (Nutt.! mss.) : “ decumbent, slender, flexuous much
branched from below; lower leaves with 1-2 pairs of long narrowly linear
and very acute leaflets; upper leaves simple, sessile, similar to the low «
leaflets; stipules minute, dilated ; pepuncles longer than the leaves few flow
ered; teeth of the calyx very short, acute; legumes oblong-linear nearlv
straight, coriaceous, somewhat puberulent, torulose, 6- 8-seeded ’ 3
p ,WJth preceding. Flowers ochroleucous tinged with'dull purple
Pedicels rather long: bracts m mute.-A very rush-like plant, with divaricate