Part 27

On slopes at the lower altitudes throughout the region, flowering in June.

DRUPACEÆ

Plum Family

Trees or shrubs, the bark exuding gum. Leaves alternate, petioled, serrate, the teeth and petiole often glandular; flowers regular, perfect; calyx 5-lobed inferior, deciduous; petals 5, inserted on the calyx; stamens numerous, inserted on the petals; fruit a 1-seeded drupe.

A shrub or small tree. Leaves thick ovate or broadly oval, acute or slightly obtuse, serrulate with short teeth. Flowers ¼ of an inch or more broad, in drooping racemes at the ends of the leafy branches; drupe dark purple or black, globose, over ¼ of an inch in diameter.

In thickets in the Rockies, frequent in the vicinity of Banff; flowering in May and early June.

PAPILIONACEÆ

Pea Family

Herbs or vines with alternate, compound leaves and irregular, perfect, yellow, purple, blue, or white flowers, mainly in racemes; calyx 4—5-toothed; petals more or less united or separate, consisting of a broad upper one (standard), two lateral ones (wings), and two front ones more or less united (keel).

Herbs; leaves unequally pinnate, not tendril-bearing. Pods not jointed. Keel of the corolla blunt. Pod not much swollen, fleshy, leathery or papery; flowers blue or purple. =Astragalus.= Pods much inflated, membranous; flowers white. =Phaca.= Pods flat, both sutures prominent externally. =Homalobus.= Keel of the corolla acute. =Aragallus.= Pods jointed, flowers purple or white. =Hedysarum.= Herbaceous veins; leaves evenly pinnate, with tendrils. Style slender with a tuft of hairs at the summit. =Vicia.= Style flattened, bearded along the inner side. =Lathyrus.=

Stems whitish with close hairs or nearly smooth, ascending or decumbent, 4—18 inches long, simple or branched at the base. Leaflets 15—25 oval or linear-oblong, sometimes notched at the apex, narrowed at the base, ½—1 inch long; peduncles exceeding the leaves. Flowers purplish, ½—¾ of an inch long in dense short spikes; calyx villous with long partly black hairs, ½ the length of the corolla, with slender teeth, half the length of the campanulate tube.

In open ground at low altitudes, probably the most frequent of the vetches on the eastern slopes of the Rockies, often forming great patches of blue during June.

Hairy or nearly smooth, stems decumbent or ascending, slender, branched at the base, usually low, but ranging from 6—24 inches long. Leaves 2—5 inches long with 17—25 leaflets which are oblong or elliptic, obtusish and usually notched at the apex, rounded at the base ¼—½ an inch long. Flowers violet-purple, ½ to nearly an inch long in dense heads, calyx nearly ⅓ the length with long black and white hairs.

Frequent at the lower altitudes, in dry ground and roadsides on the eastern slopes of the Rockies, particularly in the region around Banff; flowering in early June.

Ascending or decumbent, branching from the base, 6—15 inches high, slightly hairy or smooth. Leaves 2—5 inches long, with 13—25 oval or elliptic, obtuse or retuse leaflets, narrowed or rounded at the base, ¼—½ an inch long. Flowers ½ an inch or more long, pale violet, the keel commonly darker, in short rather open racemes; calyx about ⅓ the length of the corolla, with short black hairs.

The most dainty of any of the vetches, frequent in rocky soil in slightly shaded situations throughout the Rockies at the lower altitudes; flowering during June and July.

Stems slender, ascending and rigid, 10—18 inches high, branching from the base; hairy throughout. Leaves 3—6 inches long with 9—17 narrowly linear, silky leaflets ½—1 inch long, remote. Flowers pale violet or mauve, half an inch or more long, scattered in a slender raceme 3—5 inches long; peduncles much longer than the leaves; calyx about ⅓ the length of the corolla with scattered white or brownish hairs.

On the eastern slopes of the Rockies in dry stony ground at the lower altitudes; flowering in early June.

Stems 18—24 inches high, stout and leafy, slightly striate and nearly smooth. Leaves 2—4 inches long, thin, odd-pinnate with 4—8 pairs of obtuse, oblong, or oval leaflets, ½—1 inch long. Flower scream-coloured, tinged with blue, in heads 1½—3 inches long, on peduncles 4—10 inches long, from the axils of the upper leaves; calyx ⅛ of an inch long, black-hairy, lobes very slender and short; corolla ¼ of an inch or more long.

Frequent in more or less moist open ground throughout the Rockies at varying altitudes; flowering during June and early July.

Erect, nearly simple and smooth, 1—2 feet high. Leaves 3—6 inches long with 7—17 oval or ovate-lanceolate obtuse leaflets, ¾—1½ inches long. Flowers white, ¾ of an inch long in loose racemes on peduncles equalling or exceeding the leaves; pedicels slender, ½ an inch long in fruit; pod membranous, inflated, an inch long.

In moist or wet rocky shaded places throughout the Rockies; flowering during June and early July.

Stems erect and branching, 6—18 inches high, hairy throughout, from an enlarged root. Leaves pinnate with 7—11 linear leaflets; stipules ovate, acute, foliaceous. Flowers white, tinged with mauve, in a loose raceme 1—2 inches long; peduncles longer than the leaves, calyx black-hairy, about ⅛ of an inch long, with slender teeth nearly half as much longer; corolla more than twice the length of the calyx.

An abundant species at the lower altitudes in open dry ground on the eastern slopes of the Rockies; flowering in early June.

Silvery-pubescent throughout, with appressed or slightly spreading hairs; tufted. Leaves basal, 3—6 inches long with 9—19 linear-oblong or lanceolate, acute or obtusish leaflets ¾—1 inch long. Flowers pale yellow or creamy-white ¾ of an inch or more long in dense heads, on peduncles longer than the leaves; calyx nearly half as long as the corolla, with long white and short black hairs.

Frequent throughout the Rockies in dry stony and alpine meadows and slopes, at varying elevations; flowering from June to early July.

Tufted, the branches of the caudex short; scapes few or several, erect, rather slender, 4—20 inches high. Leaves several, mostly erect, shorter than the scapes; leaflets 10—15 pairs, mostly oblong-lanceolate, from sparsely soft-pubescent to lightly canescent, acute, ½—1 inch long. Flowers pale yellow, ½ an inch long and twice as long as the calyx, in a loose head, 2—4 inches long.

Abundant in the open ground on the eastern slopes of the Rockies; a strikingly handsome vetch frequently found in masses of considerable extent, especially in the region around Banff; flowering in June and early July.