FABACEAE. 



179 



1, Melilotus indica (L.) All. 

 SMALLER, YELLOW MELILOT. Fig. 199.) 

 Foliage minutely pubescent when 

 young. Stems erect or spreading, 3 

 high or less, sometimes copiously 

 branched; leaflets 3, oblong, oval, 

 cuneate or obovate, 3"-10" long, re- 

 tuse to rounded at the apex, serrate; 

 racemes dense, 5"-10" long; calyx 

 campanulate; corolla yellow, about 

 14'' long; pods oval or subglobose, 1" 

 long, wrinkled. [M. officinalis of 

 Jones, Reade, Lefroy, Hemsley and 

 Moore; M. parviflora Desv. ; Trifo- 

 lium Melilotus indica L.] 



Common in waste and cultivated 

 grounds. Naturalized from Europe. 

 Naturalized in the western and southern 

 United States. Flowers nearly all the 

 year around, most abundantly in spring. 

 It is often an abundant weed in neg- 

 lected fields. 



Melilotus alba Desv., WHITE MELILOT, European, with larger white 

 flowers, recorded as Bermudian by Lefroy, has not been found by other col- 

 lectors and evidently did not persist. 



5. TKIFOLIUM [Tourn.] L. 



Herbs, with mostly 3-foliolate (occasionally 4-11-foliolate) denticulate 

 leaves, the flowers in dense heads or spikes. Stipules adnate to the petiole. 

 Calyx-teeth nearly equal. Petals commonly persistent, their claws adnate to 

 the stamen-tube. Stamens diadelphous, or the tenth one separate for only a 

 portion of its length. Ovary few-ovuled. Pod often included in the calyx, 

 membranous, indehiscent or tardily dehiscent by 1 suture, 1-6-seeded. [Latin, 

 referring to the 3 leaflets.] About 275 species, most abundant in the north 

 temperate zone, where several of them are important forage plants. Type 

 species: Trifolium pratense L. 



Flowers sessile or nearly so, the heads densely-flowered. 

 Flowers distinctly pedicelled. 



Ascending or procumbent. 



Creeping. 



1. T. pratense. 



2. T. hybridutn. 



3. T. repens. 



