centre. Legume about 2 inches long; the stipe at length half an inch in
length.—This species much resmbles B. australis in habit and mode of
growth. We have never received it from the Southern Atlantic States.
10. B. alba. (R. Brown?): glabrous; branches slender, flexuous and widely
spreading; leaves on slender petioles; leaflets (membranaceous) elliptical-
oblong, acute at the base ; stipules and bracts subulate, minute, caducous;
racemes elongated, slender, often nodding, on a long naked peduncle, pedicels-
filiform, longer than the calyx (flowers white) ; legumes obovate, slightly
stipitate, much inflated.—R. Br. 1. c. ? excl. syn. Bot. mag.; Ell. sic.' 1. p:
468; DC.prodr. 2.p. 100. Crotalaria alba, Linn. spec. 2. p. 716. Sophora
alba, Linn. syst.; Reich, syst. 2. p. 242 ; Walt.! Car. p. 135. Podalyria
alba, Willd. spec. 2. p. 603 ; Michx.! fl. 1. p. 264 ; Pursh,Jl. 1. p. 308.
In damp soil along streams, Virginia and N. Carolina! to Florida!
March-April.—Stem simple, 1-2 feet high, branching towards the summit-
Leaves scarcely turning blackish in drying: leaflets very pale and minutely
puberulent beneath : petioles nearly half the length of the leaflets. Flowers
smaller than in B, leucantha. Teeth of the calyx short and broad; the upper
one slightly emarginate.—The stem according to Linnaeus, and according to
Elliott the peduncles and branches, are deep purple, winch is hardly the
ease in dried specimens. Our B. leucantha was figured in the Botanical
Magazine under the name of Podalyria alba, since which, it has been more
or less confounded with the present species ; which alone has slender often,
nodding racemes, minute stipules, and leaves which may be compared with
those of Laburnum.
11. B. megacarpa (Chapman! mss.): glabrous; branches slender; leaves
petioled ; leaflets oval, rather large, glaucous beneath; stipules and bracts
subulate, minute, caducous; racemes short, on rather short peduncles; pedicels
longer than the calyx; flowers (yellow) nodding; legumes large, at
length subglobose, eoriaeeo-membranaceous, much inflated.
Rich soils, Gadsden County, Middle Florida, Dr. Chapman! May.—This
species resembles B. alba ; but has much larger and yellow flowers, as well
as shorter and fewer-flowered racemes, and larger leaves, which, like that
species, do not turn black in drying. We have not seen the ripe fruit of the
preceding species : in the present the mature legumes are nearly globose and
1-14 inch in diameter.—Dr. Engelmann informs us that, he has found either
this same, or more probably an allied species, in the prairies near Fort Gibson,
Arkansas.
12. B. tinctoria (R. Brown): glabrous, much,branched; leaves nearly
sessile; leaflets roundish-obovate or cuneiform ; stipules and bracts minute,
caducous ; racemes short, few-flowered, terminating the branches ; pedicels
naked, shorter than the (yellow) flowers; legumes small, subglobose, glabrous,
raised on a long stipe.—R. Br. in hart. Kew. 3 p. 6 ; Ell. sic. 1. p.
467; DC. ! prodr. 2. p. 100',• Hook.! fl. Bor.-Am. 1 .p. 129; Darlingt. fl.
Cest.p. 404. Sophora tinctoria, Linn.! spec. 1. c .; Walt.! Car. 1. c. Podalyria
tinctoria, Lam. ill. t. 327 ; Willd. 1. c .; Michx:! fl. 1. p. 265 ;
Pursh,fl. l .p . 308; Bot. Mag. t. 1099 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. ed. 2 .p. 170.
Dry hills, Canada ! to Florida! and west to the Mississippi. July-Sept.—
Stem about 2 feet high, bushy. Leaflets 4-1 inch long, rounded and often
emarginate at the apex. Flowers rather small. Valves of the legume boatshaped.—
It is said that this plant will yield a considerable quantity of inferior
indigo ; whence the common name, Wild Indigo. 13
13. B. Lecontii: minutely pubescent, much branched § leaves on short
petioles, the uppermost nearly sessile; leaflets obovate-oblong; stipules
minute, subulate, caducous; racemes pedunculate, 5-10-flowered; bracts
subulate, somewhat persistent; pedicels longer than the (yellow) flowers,
bibracteolate; legumes oval, somewhat stipitate, scabrous.
0. racemes somewhat paniculate ; bracts and bracteoles ovate-lanceolate,
persistent.
Riceborough, Georgia, Mr. L. LeConte! Middle Florida, Dr. Baldwin !
Dr. Chapman! May.—Plant with the habit of B. tinctoria; but with longer
and narrower leaves, bracteolate pedicels, &c. The leaves do not turn
black in drying, as in that species.
t Species which have notfcdlen under our observation.
14. B. mollis (Michx. under Podalyria): stem, leaves, and calyx minutely
pubescent; stipules foliaceous, lanceolate ; leaflets somewhat rhombic-lanceolate;
spike terminal; flowers yellow; teeth of the calyx acute. Michx.
fl. l .p . 264.
In Mecklenburg County, N. Carolina, Michaux.—We find no specimen
in Michaux’s herbarium. To this species Nuttall referred a plant, found
chiefly upon the Catawba ridge, N. Carolina, in open bushy forests,
which is thus noticed: “ This is the lowest species with which I am acquainted,
and possesses the aspect of an herbaceous Psoralea. Stem purplish,
somewhat decumbent, pubescent. Leaves often 2 inches long and one wide,
minutely pubescent on both sides: common petiole three-fourths of an inch
in length, in which particular it strikingly differs from every other known
species. Stipules small, linear-lanceolate, acute. Legume small, with a
subulate point.” Nutt, gen^ 1. p. 281.—This plant, which differs in some
respects from the character given by Michaux, Mr. Nuttall is now inclined
to consider a distinct species, which he proposes to call B. fraxinifolia. But
we are uncertain whether it be distinct from some of the species described
above.
49. THERMOPSIS. R. Br. in hort. Kew. (ed. 2.) 3. p. 3-
Thermia, Nutt.
Calyx oblong, campanulate, sometimes a little curved, acute at the base,
4-5-cleft at the summit, slightly bilabiate. Vexillum about the length of
the wings, broad, roundish, emarginate, the sides reflexed: wings oblong:
keel nearly straight, obtuse; the petals somewhat united. Stamens persistent.
Ovary nearly sessile: ovules numerous: style slightly incurved;
stigma minute. Legume much compressed, oblong-linear, sometimes falcate,
many-seeded. ’ Seeds oblong-subreniform, compressed. Radicle very
short, incurved.—Perennial herbs. Leaves 3-foliolate; the uppermost sometimes
simple. Stipules large and foliaceous, distinct. Flowers large (yellow
or rarely white), in terminal racemes: pedicels ebracteolate.
1. T. lanceolata (R. Brown): leaves nearly sessile, the lower and the
highest ones often simple; leaflets oblong-lanceolate, silky-puberulent on
both sides; stipules lanceolate, half the length of the leaflets ; flowers geminate
or somewhat verticillate; bracts large ; calyx convex posteriorly, cleft
to the middle; the 3 lower segments lanceolate ; the upper 2-cleft at the
summit; legumes.............R .B r. 1. c.; DC. prodr. 2. p. 99 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-
Am. 1. p. 128 ; Deless. ic. 3. t. 60. Sophora lupinoides, Pallas, Astr. t. 89.
Podalyria lupinoides, Willd. spec. 2. p. 504.
Nootka Sound, DC.—A native of Kamtschatka and Altaic_Siberia.