286 LEQUMINOSAE 



Flowers white ; plants 3 to 6 feet high l.M.alha. 



Flowers yellow J plants IVj to 3 feet high 2.M.indica. 



1. M. alba Desr. White INIelilot. Erect, simple below, branching above; 

 leaflets broadly or narrowly oblong:, tapering to both ends, or widest above the 

 middle, serrate except at the very base, 1/2 to li/4 inches long; flowers 2 lines long, 

 in racemes 1 to 4 inches long; banner distinctly longer than the wings; pods some- 

 what wrinkled. 



Naturalized from Europe, in stream bottoms and moist valleys, 10 to 6500 feet : 

 almost throughout California, mostly toward the interior. July-Nov. 



Econ. note. — The flowers are a source of nectar for the honey bee. The plant is cultivated for 

 forage though cattle tend to avoid the herbage at first. The pods are sometimes thought to be 

 poisonous to sheep. It is sometimes called Bokhara Clover and Stone Clover. 



Locs. — Ft. Bidwell, Modoc Co.; Martin ranch. South Fork Trinity River, Jepson; Scott Val- 

 ley, Lake Co., Jepson 13,603 ; St. Helena Jepson 13,602 ; Alvarado, Jepson 13,601 ; Niles Canon, 

 Jepson; Santa Cruz, ace. C. A. Beed; Silver Canon, White Mts., Jepson; Independence, Jepson 

 910; Los Angeles, E. D. Palmer; San Bernardino, Parish; Riverside, Jepson; Buckmans Spr., 

 San Diego Co. (Zoe2:29). 



Refs. — Melilotus alba Desr.; Lam. Encyc. 4:63 (1797), type from Siberia; Jepson, Fl. W. 

 Mid. Cal. 312 (1901), ed. 2, 221 (1911), Man. 534 (1925). 



2. M. indica All. Yellow Melilot. Main stem erect, with many rather 

 spreading branches from above the base; leaflets broadly or narrowly cuneate- 

 obovate, dentate or serrate but entire below the middle, obtuse, truncate or retuse 

 at apex, I/2 to 1^4 inches long; racemes 1 to 2 inches long; flowers 11/2 lines long, 

 strongly fragrant; petals equal or subequal; pods with thinnish strongly wrinkled 

 coat. 



Naturalized from Europe, valley levels, canon bottoms and dry stony hill- 

 slopes, 10 to 4000 feet : common throughout California. Apr.-May. 



Field note. — As a cover crop, especially in orchards, the plant has a value and is frequently 

 so used. In grainfields it is sometimes very abundant ; when harvested with the grain the herbage 

 communicates a distasteful flavor to the wheat kernel and so to the flour. It is, thus, called Bitter 

 Clover. 



Locs. — Elk Grove, Sacramento Co., M. C. Richter; Valley Sprs., Calaveras Co., Jepson; Gwin 

 Mine, Calaveras Co., Jepson; North Berkeley HUls, Jepson 9644; Paieines, San Benito Co., Jepson 

 12,402; Wild Rose Spr., Panamint Range, Jepson; San Bernardino, Jepson; Riverside, Jepson; 

 San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 450 (Arroyo Seco), 354 (Tujunga Canon) ; Santa Ana, Alice King; 

 Mesa Grande, San Diego Co., E. Ferguson 112. 



Refs. — Melilotus indica All. Fl. Pedem. 1 :308 (1785), type European; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. 

 Cal. 312 (1901), ed. 2,222 (1911), Man. 535 (1925). M. porvij^oro Desf. Fl. Atlan. 2:192 (1800), 

 type from Algeria. 



16. TRIFOLIUM L. Clover 



Herbs with palmately compound (or rarely short-pinnate) leaves; leaflets gen- 

 erally 3, sometimes 4 to 7 ; stipules f oliaceous, united at the base and clasping the 

 petiole. Flowers white, j'ellow, pink, red or purple, in heads. Heads capitate, 

 sometimes loose (umbellate) or short-spicate. Calyx 5-toothed, the lobes equal 

 or nearly so, entire or sometimes bifid or trifid. Petals withering-persistent. Sta- 

 mens diadelphous. Pod globose to elongated, straight, 1 to 8 (mostly 1 or 2) 

 -seeded, included within the persistent calyx. — Species about 350, mostly tem- 

 perate and subtropical North America, Europe and Asia, less frequent in South 

 America and Africa, none in Australia. (Latin tres, three, and folium, leaf.) 



Bibliog. — Watson, S., Revision of the N. Am. species [of Trifolium] (Proc. Am. Acad. 11: 

 127-131, — 1876). Lojacono, M., Revisione dei Trifogli dell'America settentrionale (Nuov. Giorn. 

 Bot. Ital. 15 : 113-198, tav. 2-5, — 1883). Greene, E. L,, Some West American species of Trifolium 

 (Pitt. 1:4-8,-1887); [new West American species of Trifolium], (Pitt. 3:213-224,-1897; 

 5:107-108, — 1903). House, H. D., New and noteworthy N. Am. species of Trifolium (Bot. Gaz. 

 41:334-347, figs. 1-12,-1906). Kennedy, P. B., Studies in Trifolium (Mubl. 5:1-13, 37-46, 

 58-61, 100-104, pi. 1,-1909; 5:157-161, pis. 6, 7,-1910; 7:97-100, pis. 6, 7,-1911; 9:1-29, 

 pis. 1-5,-1913). McDermott, L. F., Illustrated key to the N. Am. species of Trifolium, 1-325, 

 pis. 1-136 (1910). 



