4. B. leucántha, Torr. & Gray. Smooth; stems, leaves, and racemes as in n. 6; stipules early deciduous; flowers white; pods oval-oblong, raised on a stalk fully twice the length of the calyx.—Alluvial soil, Ont. and Ohio to Minn., south to Fla. and La.
5. B. álba, R. Br. Smooth (1–3° high), the branches slender and widely spreading; petioles slender; stipules and bracts minute and deciduous; leaflets oblong or oblanceolate; racemes slender on a long naked peduncle; pods linear-oblong (1–1½´ long), short-stalked.—Dry soil, S. Ind. and Mo., to La., N. C., and Fla. July.
[+][+][+] Flowers indigo-blue.
6. B. austràlis, R. Br. (Blue False-Indigo.) Smooth, tall and stout (4–5°); leaflets oblong-wedge-form, obtuse; stipules lanceolate, as long as the petioles, rather persistent; raceme elongated (1–2°) and many-flowered, erect; bracts deciduous; stalk of the oval-oblong pods about the length of the calyx.—Alluvial soil, Penn. to Ga., west to S. Ind., Mo., and Ark.
2. THERMÓPSIS, R. Br.
Pod sessile or shortly stipitate in the calyx, flat, linear, straight or curved. Otherwise nearly as Baptisia.—Perennial herbs, with palmately 3-foliolate leaves and foliaceous stipules, not blackening in drying, and yellow flowers in terminal racemes. (Name from θέρμος, the lupine, and ὄψις resemblance.)
1. T. móllis, M. A. Curtis. Finely appressed-pubescent, 2–3° high; leaflets rhombic-lanceolate, 1–3´ long; stipules narrow, mostly shorter than the petiole; raceme elongated; pods narrow, short stipitate, somewhat curved, 2–4´ long.—Mountains of S. Va. and N. C.
2. T. rhombifòlia, Nutt. Low, with smaller leaves and broad conspicuous stipules; racemes short, few-flowered; pods broadly linear, spreading, usually strongly curved.—Sask. to E. Col., near or in the mountains, reported from central Kan.
3. CLADRÁSTIS, Raf. Yellow-Wood.
Calyx 5-toothed. Standard large, roundish, reflexed; the distinct keel-petals and wings straight, oblong. Stamens 10, distinct; filaments slender, incurved above. Pod short-stalked above the calyx, linear, flat, thin, marginless, 4–6-seeded, at length 2-valved.—A handsome tree, with yellow wood, smooth bark, nearly smooth pinnate leaves of 7–11 oval or ovate leaflets, and ample panicled racemes (10–20´ long) of showy white flowers drooping from the ends of the branches. Stipules obsolete. Base of the petioles hollow, enclosing the leaf buds of the next year. Bracts minute and fugacious. (Name from κλάδος, a branch, and θραυστός, brittle.)