PEA FAMILY 521 



7. MELILOTUS Juss. Gen. PI. 356. 1789. 



Annual or biennial herbs, with pinnately 3-foliolate petioled leaves, and small white 

 or yellow flowers in racemes. Calyx-teeth nearly equal. Standard obovate, wings oblong 

 and keel obtuse. Stamens diadelphous. Ovary few-ovuled; style filiform. Pod ovoid, 

 straight, indehiscent or at length 2-valved. [Greek, meaning honey-lotus.] 



About 20 species, natives of the Old World. Type species, Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam. 



Flowers white. 1 - M - <*'&«• 

 Flowers yellow. 



Flowers about S mm. long; leaves obtuse or acutish, not truncate. 2. M. officinalis. 



Flowers about 2.5 mm. long; leaves truncate or retuse. 3. M. indica. 



1. Melilotus alba Desv. White Melilot, White Sweet-clover. Fig. 2653. 



Melilotus alba Desv. ex Lam. Encycl. 4: 63. 1797. 

 Melilotus vulgaris Willd. Enum. Hort. Ber. 790. 1809. 



Annual with erect stems, 1-3 m. high, glabrous or the nascent parts finely pubescent. Leaves 

 petioled, distant ; leaflets oblong-oblanceolate, truncate, 1-2 cm. long, serrate ; racemes numerous, 

 slender. 5-10 cm. long ; pedicels 2 mm. long ; petals white, 4-6 mm. long ; pod ovoid, glabrous, 

 3 mm. long. 



Native of Eurasia; widely distributed in the Pacific States, in the southern part confined to river bottoms and 

 moist situations. May-Aug. 



2. Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam. Yellow Melilot, Yellow Sweet-clover. 



Fig. 2654. 



Trifolium M. officinalis L. Sp. PI. 765. 1753. 

 Melilotus officinalis Lam. Fl. Franc. 2: 594. 1778. 



Annual, with tall erect stems 1-3 m. high. Leaflets ovate-lanceolate to oblanceolate, 10-25 

 mm. long, sharply and irregularly serrate, obtuse or acutish at apex ; flowers yellow, about 5 mm. 

 long ; pod ovoid, strongly reticulate, pubescent. 



Native of Eurasia, and sparingly naturalized in the Northwest from Washington to northwestern California. 

 May-Aug. 



3. Melilotus indica (L.) All. Indian Melilot. Fig. 2655. 



Trifolium M. indica L. Sp. PI. 765. 1753. 

 Melilotus indica All. Fl. Ped. 1 : 308. 1785. 



Annual, glabrous or the leaves and inflorescence sparsely appressed-pubescent, the stems 

 erect, 2-7 dm. high, with ascending or spreading branches. Leaflets cuneate-oblong to obovate, 

 obtuse or truncate, 15—25 mm. long, denticulate; racemes many, 2-10 cm. long; flowers 2.5 mm. 

 long, yellow ; pods ovoid, reticulate, glabrous. 



Native of Europe and Asia; very common in the valleys and foothills throughout California. Often culti- 

 vated as a cover crop in orchards. April-Aug. 



8. TRIFOLIUM [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 764. 1753. 



Annual or perennial herbs, with palmately 3-foliolate leaves, and adnate stipules, the 

 leaflets usually denticulate. Flowers yellow, white, or commonly purple in heads or short 

 spikes. Calyx 5-cleft, with nearly equal or in some species unequal teeth, persistent. 

 Petals usually persistent, their claws all more or less adnate to the stamineal tube, or the 

 standard sometimes free. Stamens diadelphous. Pods membranous, shorter or scarcely 

 exceeding the calyx, 1-8-seeded, dehiscent or indehiscent. [Name Latin, in reference to 

 the three leaflets.] 



About 275 species, most abundant in the north temperate zone, a few species in South America and South 

 Africa; abundant in western North America, especially California. Type species, Trifolium pratense L. 



Heads not involucrate. 

 Annuals. 



Flowers pedicellate, reflexed in age; calyx glabrous except in T. bifidum. 

 Calyx 5-nerved; flowers yellow. 

 Calyx 10-nerved; flowers purple. 

 Flowers sessile, not reflexed in age; calyx densely villous. 

 Perennials. 



Peduncles axillary. 

 Peduncles terminal or subterminal. 

 Calyx glabrous. 

 Calyx hairy or villous. 

 Leaflets 5-9. 

 Leaflets 3. 



Heads globose or ovoid. 

 Heads long-peduncled. 

 Heads sessile in the uppermost leaves. 

 Heads distinctly oblong. 



