Largebract Indian Breadroot

Pediomelum cuspidatum (Pursh) Rydberg
Psoralea cuspidata Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 741. 1814.
Psoralea macrorrhiza Nutt.; (Fraser, Cat.; hyponym. 1813) Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 741, as synonym.
1814. Psoralea cryptocarpa T. & G. Fl. N. Am. 1: 301. 1838. ? Psoralea Roemeriana Scheele, Linnaea 21: 463. 1848. Lotodes cuspidatum Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 194. 1891. Psoralea aromatica Payson, Bot. Gaz. 60: 379. 1915.
A perennial, with a fusiform or ellipsoid root; stem 1-6 dm. high, stout, branching, sparingly strigose or glabrate below; leaves digitately 5-foliolate; stipules lanceolate, 1-2 cm. long; petioles 2-3 cm. long; leaflets 2-4 cm. long, elliptic to obovate, finely glandular-punctate, glabrous above, strigose beneath, mucronate; peduncles 3-7 cm. long; spikes dense and short; bracts 1-1.5 cm. long, lanceolate, cuspidate-acuminate; calyx strigose and punctate, about 1 cm. long; lobes lanceolate, acuminate, the upper four 3-4 mm. long, the lowest 5-6 mm. long; corolla about 1.5 cm. long, similar to that of the preceding; pod ovoid, without the beak 6 mm. long; seed oval, 5 mm. long.
Tyte locality: Upper Louisiana [now South or North Dakota]. Distribution: Minnesota to Montana, Arkansas, and Texas.

Pediomelum caudatum Rydberg, sp. nov
A perennial, with a tuberous root ; stem 3-5 dm. high, sparingly strigose, or glabrate below, terete, with spreading branches; leaves digitately 5-foliolate; stipules subulate, 12-15 mm. long. submembranous; petioles 2-3.5 cm. long; leaflets 2-4 cm. long, broadly oblanceolate, rounded and cuspidate at the apex, glabrous above, strigose beneath, with numerous minute glands; peduncles 5-8 cm. long, grayish-strigose; spikes dense, 4-6 cm. long; bracts linear-lanceolate, caudate-attenuate, 15-25 mm. long, longer than the calyx; calyx glandular-punctate and sparingly hirsute; tube 5-6 mm. long; upper four lobes lanceolate, attenuate, 6 mm. long, the lowest narrowly lanceolate, caudate-attenuate, 8-10 mm. long; corolla 15-16 mm. long, similar to that of the preceding; pod ovoid, thin-walled, glandular-punctate, the beak flattened, as long as the body.
Type collected in sandy soil, Dallas County, Texas, May, Reverchon [Curtiss's distribution no.] 563** (herb. Columbia Univ.).
Distribution: Middle Texas.

Perennial, Herbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Taproot present, Tubers or tuberous roots present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems or branches arching, spreading or decumbent, Stems prostrate, trailing, or mat forming, Stems less than 1 m tall, Plants gland-dotted or with gland-tipped hairs, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules green, triangulate to lanceolate or foliaceous, Stipules setiform, subulate or acicular, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves palmately 2-3 foliate, Leaves palmately 5-11 foliate, Leaf or leaflet margins entir e, Leaflets 3, Leaflets 5-9, Leaves glandular punctate or gland-dotted, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescences spikes or spike-like, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts conspicuously present, Bracts hairy, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx gland-dotted or with glandular spot, Calyx gibbous, inflated, or spurred, Calyx hairy, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals blue, lavander to purple, or violet, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Banner petal auriculate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing petals auriculate, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens diadelphous, 9 united, 1 free, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Style hairy, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit enclosed in calyx, Fruit beaked, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit hairy, Fruit gland-dotted or with gland-tipped hairs, Fruit 1-seede d, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Pediomelum cuspidatum (also known as Psoralea cuspidata) is a perennial herb also known as the buffalo pea, largebract Indian breadroot and the tall-bread scurf-pea. It is found on the black soil prairies in Texas. It has an inflorescence on stems 18-40 centimeters long arising from a subterranean stem and deep carrot-shaped root that is 4–15 cm long. The long petioled leaves are palmately divided into 5 linear-elliptic leaflets that are 2-4 centimeters long. The flowers, borne in condensed spikes from the leaves, are light blue and pea-like.

Pediomelum cuspidatum seed