Part 48 (1/2)

10. MELILTUS, Tourn. MELILOT. SWEET CLOVER.

Flowers much as in Trifolium, but in spike-like racemes, small; corolla deciduous, free from the stamen-tube. Pod ovoid, coriaceous, wrinkled, longer than the calyx, scarcely dehiscent, 1--2-seeded.--Annual or biennial herbs, fragrant in drying, with pinnately 3-foliolate leaves, leaflets toothed. (Name from ???, _honey_, and ??t??, some leguminous plant.)

M. OFFICINaLIS, Willd. (YELLOW MELILOT.) Upright (2--4 high); leaflets obovate-oblong, obtuse; _corolla yellow_; the petals nearly of equal length.--Waste or cultivated grounds. (Adv. from Eu.)

M. aLBA, Lam. (WHITE M.) Leaflets truncate; _corolla white_; the standard longer than the other petals.--In similar places. (Adv. from Eu.)

11. MEDICaGO, Tourn. MEd.i.c.k.

Flowers nearly as in Melilotus. Pod 1--several-seeded, scythe-shaped, incurved, or variously coiled.--Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; leaflets toothed; stipules often cut. (??d???, the name of Lucerne, because it came to the Greeks from Media.)

M. SATVA, L. (LUCERNE. ALFALFA.) Upright, smooth, perennial; leaflets obovate-oblong, toothed; _flowers (purple) racemed_; pods spirally twisted.--Cultivated for green fodder; spontaneous from Ma.s.s. to Minn.

and Kan. (Adv. from Eu.)

M. LUPULNA, L. (BLACK MEd.i.c.k. NONESUCH.) Proc.u.mbent, p.u.b.escent, annual; leaflets wedge-obovate, toothed at the apex; _flowers in short spikes_ (yellow); _pods kidney-form_, 1-seeded.--Waste places, N. Eng. to Fla., west to Mich., Iowa, and Mo. (Adv. from Eu.)

M. MACULaTA, Willd. (SPOTTED MEd.i.c.k.) Spreading or proc.u.mbent annual, somewhat p.u.b.escent; leaflets obcordate, with a purple spot, minutely toothed; _peduncles 3--5-flowered_; flowers yellow; _pods compactly spiral_, of 2 or 3 turns, compressed, _furrowed on the thick edge_, and fringed with a double row of curved p.r.i.c.kles.--N. Brunswick to Ma.s.s.

(Adv. from Eu.)

M. DENTICULaTA, Willd. Nearly glabrous; _pods loosely spiral, deeply reticulated_, and with a _thin keeled edge_; otherwise like the last, and with the same range. (Adv. from Eu.)

12. HOSaCKIA, Douglas.

Calyx-teeth nearly equal. Petals free from the diadelphous stamens; standard ovate or roundish, its claw often remote from the others; wings obovate or oblong; keel incurved. Pod linear, compressed or somewhat terete, sessile, several-seeded.--Herbs, with pinnate leaves (in ours 1--3-foliolate, with gland-like stipules), and small yellow or reddish flowers in umbels (ours solitary) upon axillary leafy-bracteate peduncles. (Named for _Dr. David Hosack_, of New York.)

1. H. Purs.h.i.+ana, Benth. Annual, more or less silky-villous or glabrous, often 1 high or more; leaves nearly sessile, the 1--3 leaflets ovate to lanceolate (3--9” long); peduncles often short, bracteate with a single leaflet.--N. C.; S. W. Minn. to Ark., and west to the Pacific. Very variable.

13. PSORaLEA, L.

Calyx 5-cleft, persistent, the lower lobe longest. Stamens diadelphous or sometimes monadelphous. Pod seldom longer than the calyx, thick, often wrinkled, indehiscent, 1-seeded.--Perennial herbs, usually sprinkled all over or roughened (especially the calyx, pods, etc.) with glandular dots or points. Leaves mostly 3--5-foliolate. Flowers spiked or racemed, white or mostly blue-purplish. Root sometimes tuberous and farinaceous. (Name, ???a????, _scurfy_, from the glands or dots.)

[*] _Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate._

1. P. On.o.brychis, Nutt. Nearly smooth and free from glands, _erect_ (3--5 high); _leaflets lanceolate-ovate, taper-pointed_ (3' long); _stipules and bracts awl-shaped_; racemes elongated; peduncle shorter than the leaves; pods roughened and wrinkled.--River-banks, Ohio to Ill.

and Mo.; also south and east to S. C. July.

2. P. stipulata, Torr. & Gray. Nearly smooth and glandless; _stems diffuse; leaflets ovate-elliptical_, reticulated; _stipules ovate; flowers in heads_ on rather short peduncles; _bracts broadly ovate, sharp-pointed_.--Rocks, S. Ind. and Ky. June, July.

3. P. melilotodes, Michx. Somewhat p.u.b.escent, more or less glandular; _stems erect_ (1--2 high), slender; _leaflets lanceolate or narrowly oblong; spikes oblong_, long-peduncled; _stipules awl-shaped_; bracts ovate or lanceolate, taper-pointed; pods strongly wrinkled transversely.--Dry soil, Fla. to Tenn., S. Ind. and Kan. June.

[*][*] _Leaves palmately 3--5-foliolate; roots not tuberous._

4. P. tenuiflra, Pursh. Slender, erect, much branched and bushy (2--4 high), _minutely h.o.a.ry-p.u.b.escent_ when young; leaflets varying from linear to obovate-oblong (--1' long), glandular-dotted; _flowers_ (2--3” long) _in loose racemes_; lobes of the calyx and bracts ovate, acute; pod glandular. (P. floribunda, _Nutt._)--Prairies, Minn. to Ill., Tex., and westward. June--Sept.

5. P. argophlla, Pursh. _Silvery silky-white_ all over, erect, divergently branched (1--3 high); leaflets _elliptical-lanceolate; spikes interrupted_; lobes of the calyx and _bracts lanceolate_.--High plains, N. Wisc. to Iowa, Kan., and westward. June.--Flowers 4--5”

long.