Whiterim Scurfpea

Pediomelum subacaule (T. & G.) Rydberg
Psoralea subacaulis T. & G. Fl. N. Am. 1: 302. 1838. Lotodes subacaule Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 194. 1891.
A subacaulescent perennial, with a fusiform tuberous root 5-10 cm. long, 1-3 cm. thick; stem above ground very short; leaves digitately 5-7-foliolate, clustered at the base; stipules ovate, scarious, 1-2 cm. long; petioles 4—8 cm. long, hirsute-villous; leaflets 1.5-4 cm. long, 6-10 mm. wide, oblanceolate or oblong-oblanceolate, obtuse or acute, glabrous except the ciliate margins and mid veins beneath; peduncles 4— 1 cm. long, villous-hirsute; spikes dense, 2-6 cm. long; bracts ovate-lanceolate, 1-1.5 cm. long, ciliate; calyx hirsute; tube 3 mm. long; upper four lobes triangular, very short, acute, the lowest one obovate or spatulate, rounded or obtuse at the apex, 3 mm. long; corolla purple, 12-15 mm. long, similar to that of P. cuspidatum; pod hirsute, ovoid, the flat beak shorter than the body.
Type locality: Nashville, Tennessee. Distribution: Tennessee.