PULSE FAMILY. 101 



5. LABURNUM. (Ancient Latin name. Genus separated from Cytisus 

 from the different appearance, and the seeds destitute of strophiole or append- 

 age at the scar.) 



L. vulgare, Common Laburnum, Golden-Chain, or Bean-Trefoil- 

 Tree of Europe. Planted for ornament, a low tree, with smooth green bark, 

 slender-petioled leaves of 3 oblong leaflets (2' -3' long), and pretty large showy 

 golden-yellow flowers hanging in long racemes, in late spring ; pods with one 

 thicker edge. 



6. TRIGONELLA. (Old name, from Greek word for triangular, from the 

 shape of the corolla or the seeds.) Low herbs. T. c^ERt'LEA is the plant 

 used in Switzerland for imparting the flavor like that of Melilot to certain 

 kinds of cheese.) 



T. Fcenum-Grsecum, Fenugreek. Occasionally cult, in gardens, in 

 Europe a forage and popular medicinal plant, strong-scented ; with wedge- 

 oblong leaflets, one or two nearly sessile small flowers in the axils, yellowish or 

 whitish corolla, and a linear long-pointed and somewhat curved pod 2' -4' long, 

 with veiny sides. ® 



7. MEDIC AGO, MEDICK. (The old name of Lucerne, because it came 

 to the (ireeks from Media.) All natives of the Old World : a few have run 

 wild here. Fl. all summer. 



* Flowers inolet-purple or bluish. 2/ 

 M. sativa, Lucerne or Spanish Trefoil. Cultivated for green fodder, 

 especially S. : stems erect, l°-2° high, from a long deep root ; leaflets obovate- 

 oblong ; racemes oblong ; pod several-seeded, linear, coiled about 2 turns. 

 * * Flowers yellow. ® @ 



M. lupulina, Black Medick, Nonesuch. A weed or pasture plant, in 

 dry or sandy lields, &c. : low, spreading, downy, with wedge-obovate leaflets, 

 roundish or at length oblong heads or spikes of small flowers, and little kidney- 

 shaped 1 -seeded pods turning black when ripe. 



M. maculata, Spotted M. Waste sandy places, S. & E. : spreading or 

 trailing ; with broadly inversely heart-shaped leaflets marked with a dark spot, 

 3 - .'5-flowered peduncles, and a flat pod compactly coiled three or more turns, 

 its thickish edge beset with a double row of curved prickles. 



M. dentieulata, like the last, but rarer, with pod of looser coils, sharp 

 edge, and mostly shorter prickles. 



M. SCUtellata, Snail Medick, Beehive. Cult, occasionally in gardens 

 for its curious pods, which are pretty large, coiled up like a snail-shell, in many 

 turns, smooth and even. 



8. MELILOTUS, MELILOT, SWEET CLOVER. (From Greek 

 words for honeif and Lotus, i. e. Sweet Lotus: foliage sweet-scented, especially 

 in drying.) Natives of the Old World ; somewhat cult, in gardens, &c., and 

 running wild in waste or cultivated ground : fl. all summer. @ @ 



M. ^Iba, White M., Bokhara or Tree Clover. Tall, 3° - 6° high, 

 branching, with obovate or oblong leaflets truncately notched at the end, and 

 loose racemes of white flowers. Has been cult, for green fodder. 



M. officinalis, Yellow M. Less tall, 2° -3° high, with merely blunt 

 leaflets and yellow flowers. 



9. TRIPOLIUM, CLOVER, TREFOIL. (Latin name : three leaflets.) 



* Low, insignificant weeds, not. from Europe in dry waste fields, Sfc. ® 

 -*- Flowers yellow, in round heads, produced through late summer and autumn, 

 refiexed and turning chestnut-brown, dry and papery loith age. 



T. agr^rium, Yellow Hop-C. Smoothish, 6'- 12' high, with obovatc- 

 oblong leaflets all nearly sessile on the end of the petiole; heads rather large. 



T. proCTimbens, Low Hop-C. Smaller, spreading, rather downy, the 

 wedge-obovate leaflets notched at the end, the middle one at a little distance 

 from the others. 



