THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 57 



terfiy-like. Two of the petals are larger and wing-like. Darwin 

 taught that sneh irregular flowers had been developed to insure 

 cross-pollination by insects. This implies nectar secretion. We know 

 that alfalfa, mesquite and sweet and white clover are verj^ superior as 

 honey plants. The leaves of alfalfa (Fig. 8) are like the clovers — 

 trifoliate. The name, Leguminosce — pulse family — comes from the 

 fact that the ovary, or seed vessel, becomes a legume, or pod. which in 

 the case of alfalfa is spiral (Fig. 8a), often making three twists. Some 

 of the species are shrubs, mescjuite (Prosopis juUflora) ; others, trees, as 

 illustrated liy locusts and acacias ; still others, vinas as in wistaria. We 

 may say that alfalfa is the crowning species of one of the largest and 

 most important of all the families of the vegetable kingdom. 



The scientific name of alfalfa is Medicago sativa. The genus 3Iedi- 

 cago is characterized by the possession of a spiral pod (Fig. 8. a. and &.). 

 The flowers are not in a head like red and white clover, l)ut are in a 

 raceme. Like those of many other genera the leaves are trifoliate. We 

 are all familiar with our three-leaved clovers. All of the fifty or more 

 species of Medicago are natives of Asia and Africa. Some are vines; 

 some, shrubs. 



Besides the upright species of Medicago, the much branching peren- 

 nial alfalfa, or lucern, with flowers varying from whitish to reddish 

 purple, and spiral pods with from one to three twists, carrying from 

 one to eight seeds, we have the yellow lucern, or Swedish clover, 

 Medicago falcata. As we should expect from its far northern birth- 

 place, it is very resistant to cold, and as the name suggests, the flowers 

 are yellow. Sand lucern, Medicago media, is spreading like the last. 

 It has been thought by some to lie a hybrid between yellow lucern and 

 alfalfa. Like yellow lucern it lacks the productivity of alfalfa and is 

 only superior in its hardiness against cold. Its spreading habit, its 

 pod with only two thirds of a twist, its less weighty seed, would seem to 

 justify its jiosition as a distinct species. 



Yellow trefoil, Medicago luputina, is an annual. It is more spreading 

 than alfalfa, has shorter leaves, yellow flowei's and a single incomplete 

 spiral. The ripe pods are black. It is greatly inferior to alfalfa as a 

 forage plant. 



Bur clover, Medicago denticulata, is common in all parts of Cali- 

 fornia. It is an annual and has value as a cover crop. 



VARIETIES. 



We are not surprised that alfalfa, so long in cultivation, has several 

 varietal forms. As already suggested, sand lucern may be only a 

 variety of alfalfa. The Grimm alfalfa is much like the last. Both are 

 suited to the states of the far North— North Dakota, Minnesota, Wiscon- 

 sin and ^Michigan. Neither of these is ec^ual in value to our common 

 alfalfa in the warmer states like California. 



The Turkestan variety is from a dry hot country and resists drought, 

 heat and cold exceptionally well. In this respect it rivals the sand 

 lucern and Grimm alfalfa. It is low and spreading and has narrow 

 leaves, which are small and somewhat hairy. It is an inferior variety 

 and would not find favor in a warm climate where irrigation is 

 practiced. 



The German variety is like the last, but the leaves are broader, the 

 stem more succulent and less hairy, and its productivity, though greater 



