long or over,
butterfly-shaped, consisting of greenish, cream-yellow standard,
purplish-rose wings, and curved keel of greenish yellow tinged
with rose; petals clawed; 10 stamens (9 and 1); calyx 5-toothed.
Stem: Hoary, with white, silky hairs, rather woody, 1 to 2 feet
high. Leaves: Compounded of 7 to 25 oblong leaflets. Root: Long,
fibrous, tough. Fruit: A hoary, narrow pod, to 2 in. long.
Preferred Habitat - Dry, sandy soil, edges of pine woods.
Flowering Season - June-July.
Distribution - Southern New England, westward to Minnesota, south
to Florida, Louisiana, and Mexico.
Flowers far less showy and attractive than this denizen of sandy
wastelands, a cousin of the wisteria vine and the locust tree,
have been introduced to American gardens. Striking its long
fibrous root deep into the dry soil, the plant spreads in thrifty
clumps through heat and drought - and so tough are its fibers
they might almost be used for violin strings. As in the case of
the lupine, the partridge pea and certain others akin to it, the
leaves of the hoary pea "go to sleep" at night, but after a
manner of their own, i.
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