Fox Tail Prairie Clover

Parosela leporina (Ait.) Rydberg
Psoralen leporina Ait. Hort. Kew. 3: 81. 1789.
Dalea alopecuroides Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Am. Bot. 1 : 237. 1880. Not D. alopecuroides Willd. 1803.
Dalea annua alopecuroides Kuntze. Rev. Gen. 178, in part. 1891.
Dalea annua ebracieata Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 178. 1891.
A tall, branched annual; stem striate, glabrous, sparingly glandular-dotted, 5-10 dm. high; branches ascending; leaflets ascending, 5-10 cm. long; stipules subulate, 2-3 mm. long; petiole 5-10 mm. long; rachis margined, glabrous, sparingly dotted; stipels gland-like; leaflets 21-35, oblong, 5-10 mm. long, rounded or retuse at the apex, glabrous on both sides, paler and glandular-dotted beneath; peduncles terminal at the ends of the branches and opposite the leaves, 5-15 cm. long; spikes dense, cylindric, 2-5 cm. long, 8-10 mm. thick; bracts ovate or lanceolate, acuminate, membranous, early deciduous, longer than the buds, silky-pilose or puberulent below and ciliate on the margin, the upper part glabrous and dark on the back; calyx-tube turbinate, silky-pilose, 2-2.5 mm. long; lobes subulate-setaceous, with a broader base, about equaling the tube; corolla blue with whitish base or rarely white; blade of the banner rounded-subcordate, truncate at the base, 2-2.5 mm. long, the claw 2 mm. long; blades of the wings and keel-petals with rather indistinct basal lobes, 2 mm. long, the claws 1 mm. long; pod silky-pilose.
Type locality: Cultivated plant of unknown origin [probably Mexico], Distribution: New Mexico and Arizona to Guatemala; perhaps further south.

Parosela bigelovii Rydberg, sp. nov
A low annual; stem 1-3 dm. high, glabrous, branched; leaves 2-5 cm. long; stipules subulate, 1 mm. long; rachis glabrous; stipels conic, gland-like; leaflets 7-21, broadly oblongoblanceolate, often retuse, 3-6 mm. long, glabrous on both sides, minutely glandular-dotted beneath; peduncles 2-8 cm. long; spikes dense, 2-4 mm. long, 8-9 mm. thick; bracts lanceolate, acuminate, pilose and glandular-dotted, deciduous, equaling the calyx; calyx-tube campanulate, 2.5 mm. long, pilose, glandular-dotted between the 10 dark ribs, the lobes filiform from a broad base, nearly equaling the tube; corolla white; blade of the banner 2 mm. long, oval, the claw 2 mm. long; wings and keel-petals inserted near the middle of the staminal tube, the blades obliquely oblong, with the basal lobes rather poorly developed, 1.5 mm. long; pod membranous, slightly pilose above.
Type collected near the Copper Mines [Santa Rita del Cobre], New Mexico, Bigelow, Mexican Boundary Survey 226, in part (U. S. Nat. Herb. no. 125432, in part). Distribution: New Mexico and Chihuahua.

Parosela lagopus Cav. Descr. PI. 187. 1802
Psoralea Lagopus Cav. Ic. 1: 59. 1791.
Dalea Lagopus Willd. Sp. PI. 3: 1340. 1803.
Dalea elata Mart. & Gal. Bull. Acad. Brux. 10 ; : 41. 1843. Not D. data H. & A. 1840.
Dalea lagopoda St. -Lag. Ann. Soc. Bot. Lyon 7: 124. 1880.
A stout annual; stem 5-10 dm. high, glabrous, somewhat glandular-warty, branched above; leaves 4-10 cm. long; stipules subulate, 4-6 mm. long; petiole about 1 cm. long; rachis margined, glabrous, sparingly and minutely glandular-dotted; stipels gland-like; leaflets 21-51, oblong, retuse or obtuse, 4-8 mm. long, glabrous on both sides, glandular-dotted beneath; peduncles terminating the branches, 5-15 cm. long; spikes dense, 2-10 cm. long, 12-14 mm. thick; bracts lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous, membranous, deciduous, equaling the calyx; calyx-tube campanulate, 10-ribbed, glabrous, with conspicuous yellow glands between the ribs; lobes with a triangular base and long filiform silky-pilose tips equaling the tube; corolla blue; blade of the banner broadly oval, subcordate or truncate at the base, 4 mm. long, the claw 2 mm. long; blades of the wings and keel-petals 3-4 mm. long, with obscure basal lobes, the claws 1 mm. long; keel-petals soon distinct; pod minutely glandular-dotted above, ciliate along the back, otherwise glabrous.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Veracruz to Costa Rica.

Parosela costaricana Rydberg, sp. nov
Dalea annua alopecuroides Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 178, in part. 1891.
A stout annual; stem 3-5 dm. high, much branched, grooved, conspicuously glandulardotted; leaves spreading, 3-8 cm. long; stipules subulate; rachis glabrous, glandular-dotted; stipels conic, gland-like; leaflets 15-49, oblong, obtuse, 4—8 mm. long, glabrous on both sides, conspicuously glandular-dotted beneath; peduncles terminating the branches, 2-10 cm. long; spikes dense, cylindric, 2-6 cm. long, 8-9 mm. thick; bracts ovate, acuminate, scartous on the margins below, ciliate, the back and tip green; corolla white; blade of the banner rounded obovate, with a pair of acutish basal lobes, 2 mm. long, the claw 1.5 mm. long; blades of the wings obliquely oblong, with a rounded basal lobe, the claws very short; blades of the keelpetals obliquely obovate, with an obsolete basal lobe, 2 mm. long, the claws 1 mm. long; pod pilose above, glabrate below.
Type collected at Haciendas de Zent et de Guacimo, Costa Rica, United Fruit Company 21 (U. S.Nat. Herb. no. 861459).
Distribution: Costa Rica.

Annual, Herbs, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems less than 1 m tall, Plants gland-dotted or with gland-tipped hairs, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules inconspicuous, absent, or caducous, Stipules setiform, subulate or acicular, Stipules deciduous, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves odd pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glandular punctate or gland-dotted, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Inflorescences spikes or spike-like, Inflorescence terminal, Bracts conspicuously present, Bracteoles present, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx hairy, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals white, Petals blue, lavander to purple, or violet, Banner petal narrow or oblanceolate, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens monadelphous, united below, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit indehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit enclosed in calyx, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 1-seeded, Seeds reniform, Seeds cordiform, mit-shaped, notched at one end, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.