HORSESHOE VETCH 



149 



a bee visitor as a Ion*'" 1c\xt liv whicli to raise this litl and then inscrl 

 its head beneath the vexilluni, a procedure whicli leads to efiectual 

 cross-pollination. It is visited by bees and Lepidoptera. 



The pod breaks uj) into several joints, which are dispersed with 

 the contained seeds to a short distance, aided by the wind, as the plant 

 is semi-erect in habit. 



It is one of the typical t:halk [)lants needing a lime soil, which 



Pliof.. A H llur«ooa 

 HORSF.SHfJK \'i:T('1I anfipnrri'pis rnilliJSd, L. ) 



it obtains also from oolitic rocks. No tungi or insect pests infest thi.s 

 plant. 



Hippocrepis, Linnaeus, is from the Greek hippos, horse, and crcpis, 

 shoe, from the form of the joint, and coniosa means hairy. 



The only common name is Horse.shoe. It is called also " Unshoe 

 the Horse", because its seeds resemble a horseshoe, and by Doctrine 

 of Signatures (!) it was thcrcfon- said to unshoe horses. 



Essential Specific Characters:- 



87. Hippocrepis comosa, L. — Stem branched, woody below, pro- 

 cumbent, leaves pinnate, leaflets narrow, obovate, 6-12, flowers yellow, 

 in umbels, 5-8, pod jointed, curved, like a horseshoe. 



