Trifolium.] LEUUMINO&E. 77 



8. Trifolium. Linn. Trefoil and Clover. 



Legume one or more seeded, indehiscent, shorter than the calyx 

 by which it is enclosed, (except in T. ornithopodioides) - Pe- 

 tals mostly combined by their claws, and persistent. — Flowers 

 capitate. Leaves ternate. — Name, so called on account of its 

 three leaves or leaflets. Diadelphia. Decandria. 



* Legumes xvith several seeds. 



1. T. ornithopodioides, Linn. Bird's-foot Trefoil. Stem 

 prostrate; leaflets obcordate, denticulate; stipules lanceolate, 

 entire, rather membranous, very acute ; flowers from two to 

 four in number ; legumes rather falcate, compressed, twice as 

 long as the calyx. Br. Fl. l.p.327. E. Fl. v. m. p. 298. E. 

 But. t. 1047. — Trigonella ornithopodioides, De Cand. Lindl. 



Sandy pastures near the sea. On the south side of KiHiney Hill, 

 and on the gravelly beach by the Murrow of Wicklow. Fl. June. ©. 

 — Stems spreading, from three to five inches in length. Flowers small. 

 As Doctor Hooker observes, the long legumes, petals, and the habit of 

 this plant does not accord with this genus, nor yet with Trigonella. 



2. T. repens, Linn. Dutch Clover. Heads globose ; flowers 

 somewhat stalked ; legume within the calyx, 4-seeded; stems 

 creeping. Br. Fl. 1, p. 328. E. Fl. v. iii. p. 299. E. Bot. t. 

 1769. 



Meadows and pastures, frequent. Fl. summer months. %. — Heads 

 of flowers white. Each flower is on a footstalk, which becomes re- 

 curved after flowering, and then all the legumes are drooping and 

 covered with the brown corolla. This is the Dutch clover of agri- 

 culturists, and is deservedly in great repute for pastures. It is the 

 plant which I have observed, for the last thirty years, to be worn as 

 the shamrock on Patrick's day. The leaflets have often a dark spot 

 at their base, with a white line bordering it near the middle. A variety 

 is frequently cultivated in gardens having four or five leaflets, of a dark 

 brown colour, on each common footstalk, instead of three, the usual 

 number. 



* ip. Legumes one or two-seeded. Standard deciduous or unaltered. 

 Calyx not inflated, mostly hairy. 



3. T. pratense, Linn. Common purple Trefoil, or Red Clover. 

 Heads dense, ovate ; teeth of the calyx setaceous, lower one 

 longer than the rest, half as long as the tube of the corolla ; 

 stipules ovate, bristle-pointed ; leaflets oval or obcordate ; stems 

 ascending. Br. Fl. 1. p. 328. E. Fl. v. iii. p. 302. E. Bot. 

 t. 1770. 



Meadows and pastures, frequent. Fl. summer months. % . — Flowers 

 reddish-purple. This is the common lied Clover so much cultivated. 

 The leaflets are oval, obovate, or obcordate, often marked w ith a white 

 lunulate spot. 



