[Aragallus Neck. Elem. 3: 12. Hyponym. 1790.]

[Spiesia Neck. Elem. 3: 13. Hyponym. 1790.]

Herbs, sometimes shrubby, and mostly acaulescent, with odd-pinnate leaves, and racemose or spicate flowers. Calyx-teeth nearly equal. Petals clawed; standard erect, ovate or oblong; wings oblong; keel erect, shorter than or equalling the wings, its apex mucronate, acuminate or appendaged; stamens diadelphous; anthers all alike; style filiform. Pod sessile or stipitate, 2-valved, 1-celled, or more or less 2-celled by the intrusion of the ventral suture. [Greek, referring to the sharp-pointed keel of the corolla.]

About 130 species, natives of the north temperate zone. In addition to the following, some 20 others occur in the western and northwestern parts of North America. Type species: Oxytropis montana (L.) DC.

Leaves simply pinnate.

Plants 1'-4' high: heads few-flowered.

Pod membranous, pubescent, much inflated, 1 -celled.

1.

O. podocarpa.

Pod coriaceous, ovoid, little inflated, pubescent, partly 2-celled.

Calyx gray-pubescent; leaflets 7-9, oblong.

2.

O. multiceps.

Calyx dark-pubescent; leaflets 7-21, linear.

3.

O. arctica.

Plants 6'-18' high; heads or spike-like racemes many-flowered.

Sparingly pubescent; flowers 8"-9" long; pods papery.

4.

O. campestris.

Silky-pubescent; flowers 9" - 15" long; pods coriaceous.

5.

O. Lamberti.

Leaves pinnate, the leaflets verticillate.

Pod scarcely longer than the calyx, its tip spreading.

6.

O. splendens.

Pod 2-3 times as long as the calyx, its tip erect.

7.

O. Belli.

1. Oxytropis Podocárpa A. Gray. Inflated Oxytrope

Fig. 2562

Oxytropis arctica var. inflata Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 146. 1833.

Oxytropis podocarpa A. Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 6: 234. 1864.

Spiesia inflata Britton, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 201. 1894.

Aragallus inflatus A. Nelson, Erythea 7: 59. 1899.

Acaulescent or nearly so, more or less villous-pubescent, much tufted, 1'-4' high. Stipules membranous, imbricated, adnate to the petiole, lanceolate, about 2" long; leaves pinnate; leaflets 9-21, linear, 2"-4" long, about 1/2" wide, obtuse or obtusish; peduncles 1-2-flowered, scarcely exceeding the leaves; flowers violet, 7"-8" long; calyx densely dark-pubescent; pod membranous, much inflated, I-celled, ovoid, pubescent, short-stalked or sessile in the calyx, about 9" long, pointed; ventral suture slightly intruded.

Arctic and alpine; Labrador and arctic America, south in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado. Summer.

1 Oxytropis Podoc Rpa A Gray Inflated Oxytrope 9041 Oxytropis Podoc Rpa A Gray Inflated Oxytrope 905