Rattlebox (Crotalaria Sagittalis)

Rattlebox (Crotalaria Sagittalis) receives its name because the seeds rattle about in the large, inflated, blackish, seed-pod. It is an annual herb, with a hairy, bending stem and stemless, toothless, pointed-oval leaves alternating along it. The yellow, pea-like flowers are in small clusters at the ends of the branches. It is found in sandy soil, chiefly along the coast, from Mass. to Fla. and Texas and, in the Mississippi basin, to Indiana and South Dakota.

Prairie Clover (Petalostemum Purpureum)

Prairie Clover (Petalostemum Purpureum) is an upright perennial herb, with the smooth stem crowded with leaves, compounded of five, narrowly-linear leaflets. The flowers are small and crowded in dense terminal spikes; they are purple or rose- colored, have a small standard and four petals on threadlike claws. It is found on dry prairies west of the Mississippi.

A. Goat's Rue; Catgut. Tephrosia virginiana. B. Partridge Pea. Cassia Chamaecrista.

Goats Rue; Cat Gut (Tephrosia Virginiana)

We find this herb in most all dry, sandy, waste places from N. H. to Minn, and southwards.

It is a pea-like plant with a simple, silky-haired, erect stem, leafy to the top where it terminates in a dense raceme or panicle of yellowish-white flowers marked with purple. The flowers are large and numerous; they have a rounded standard, but little longer than the wings and keel. The long leaves are compounded of seventeen to twenty-nine linear-oblong leaflets. Its roots are long, very slender and very tough; it is from these qualities of the roots that the plant receives its common names.

Partridge Pea (Cassia Chamaecrista)

Partridge Pea (Cassia Chamaecrista) is a handsome species with large, showy, yellow flowers measuring about 1 1-4 inches across; on slender ped icels from the angles of the leaves, usually either singly or in pairs; often the five, large, rounded petals have purplish spots at their bases; after flowering, long erect seed pods are left in the place of each of the blossoms.

The leaves of the Partridge Pea are long and compounded of 20-30 small, blunt, lance-shaped leaflets, each with a tiny awl-like point. The stem is erect, rather smooth, and grows one or two feet tall. We find this plant in dry or sandy fields throughout the United States.

Wild Sensitive Plant (Cassia Nictitans)

Wild Sensitive Plant (Cassia Nictitans) is quite similar but much taller. The flowers are small and on short stems, in groups of two or three at the bases of the leaves/ The leaves are compounded of 10-20 small leaflets, less than 3-4 inches long; they are very sensitive and close, or fold together, at night, or in the daytime if handled roughly. It is found from Me. to Fla, and west to Nebr. and Tex.

A. Rabbit-foot Clover; Stone Clover.

Trifolium arvense.

B. Red Clover.

Trifolium pratense.