The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States. Asa Gray
at the end and marked on the upper side with a pale spot; stipules broad, bristle-pointed; heads ovate, sessile.—Fields and meadows; largely cultivated. (Adv. from Eu.)
T. mèdium, L. (Zigzag C.) Stems zigzag, smoothish; leaflets oblong, entire, and spotless; heads mostly stalked; flowers deeper purple, otherwise too like the last.—Dry hills, N. Scotia to E. Mass. (Adv. from Eu.)
[*][*] Flowers pedicelled in umbel-like round heads on a naked peduncle, their short pedicels reflexed when old; corolla white or rose-color, withering-persistent and turning brownish in fading; the tubular portion short.
1. T. refléxum, L. (Buffalo C.) Annual or biennial; stems ascending, downy; leaflets obovate-oblong, finely toothed; stipules thin, ovate; standard rose-red, wings and keel whitish; calyx-teeth hairy; pods 3–5-seeded.—Western N. Y. and Ont. to Iowa, Kan., and southward.
2. T. stoloníferum, Muhl. (Running Buffalo-C.) Smooth, perennial; stems with long runners from the base; leaflets broadly obovate or obcordate, minutely toothed; heads loose; flowers white, tinged with purple; pods 2-seeded.—Open woodlands and prairies, Ohio and Ky., west to Iowa and Kan.
3. T. rèpens, L. (White C.) Smooth, perennial; the slender stems spreading and creeping; leaflets inversely heart-shaped or merely notched, obscurely toothed; stipules scale-like, narrow; petioles and especially the peduncles very long; heads small and loose; calyx much shorter than the white corolla; pods about 4-seeded.—Fields and copses, everywhere. Indigenous only in the northern part of our range, if at all.
4. T. Caroliniànum, Michx. Somewhat pubescent small perennial, procumbent, in tufts; leaflets wedge-obovate and slightly notched; stipules ovate, foliaceous; heads small on slender peduncles; calyx-teeth lanceolate, nearly equalling the purplish corolla; standard pointed; pods 4-seeded.—Waste ground near Philadelphia, south to Va., Fla., and Tex.
T. hýbridum, L. (Alsike C.) Resembling T. repens, but the stems erect or ascending, not rooting at the nodes; flowers rose-tinted.—Becoming common. (Nat. from Eu.)
[*][*][*] Flowers short-pedicelled in close heads, reflexed when old; corolla yellow, persistent, turning dry and chestnut-brown with age, the standard becoming hood-shaped; annuals, fl. in summer.
T. agràrium, L. (Yellow or Hop-C.) Smoothish, somewhat upright (6–12´ high); leaflets obovate-oblong, all three from the same point (palmate) and nearly sessile; stipules narrow, cohering with the petiole for more than half its length.—Sandy fields and roadsides; N. Scotia to Va.; also in western N. Y. (Nat. from Eu.)
T. procúmbens, L. (Low Hop-C.) Stems spreading or ascending, pubescent (3–6´ high); leaflets wedge-obovate, notched at the end, the lateral at a small distance from the other (pinnately 3-foliolate); stipules ovate, short.—Sandy fields and roadsides, common.—Var. mìnus, Gray, has smaller heads, the standard not much striate with age. (Nat. from Eu.)
10. MELILÒTUS, 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 μέλι, honey, and λωτός, some leguminous plant.)
M. officinàlis, 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. álba, Lam. (White M.) Leaflets truncate; corolla white; the standard longer than the other petals.—In similar places. (Adv. from Eu.)
11. MEDICÀGO, Tourn. Medick.
Flowers nearly as in Melilotus. Pod 1–several-seeded, scythe-shaped, incurved, or variously coiled.—Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; leaflets toothed; stipules often cut. (Μηδική, the name of Lucerne, because it came to the Greeks from Media.)
M. satìva, L. (Lucerne. Alfalfa.) Upright, smooth, perennial; leaflets obovate-oblong, toothed; flowers (purple) racemed; pods spirally twisted.—Cultivated for green fodder; spontaneous from Mass. to Minn. and Kan. (Adv. from Eu.)
M. lupulìna, L. (Black Medick. Nonesuch.) Procumbent, pubescent, 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. maculàta, Willd. (Spotted Medick.) Spreading or procumbent annual, somewhat pubescent; 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 prickles.—N. Brunswick to Mass. (Adv. from Eu.)
M. denticulàta, 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. HOSÁCKIA, 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. Purshiàna, 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. PSORÀLEA, 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, ψωραλέος, scurfy, from the glands or dots.)
[*] Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate.
1. P. Onóbrychis, 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. stipulàta, 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. melilotoìdes, Michx. Somewhat pubescent, 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. tenuiflòra, Pursh. Slender, erect, much branched and bushy (2–4° high), minutely hoary-pubescent when young; leaflets varying from linear to obovate-oblong (½–1½´ long), glandular-dotted; flowers (2–3´´ long) in loose racemes; lobes of the calyx and bracts ovate, acute; pod glandular.