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FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



general build, but its stem is more or less erect, the flowers are 

 purple, and the whole plant is generally more hairy. The stipules 

 are ovate, larger, veined, and have long points ; and each flower- 

 head has a pair of trifoliate leaves at its base. The individual 

 flowers are about half an inch long ; and the hairy calyx has the 

 lower tooth longer than the others. The pod contains only one seed, 



TirR Purple Clover. 



and is surrounded by the brown, withered corolla, as well as by the 

 calyx, which remains erect while the fruit ripens. This species 

 also flowers from May to the end of the summer. 



Two of the Vetches ( Vicia — of the order Leguminosce) are also 

 to be included among our spring-flowering field-plants. One of 

 these is the Spring Vetch (F. lathyroides), which may be found in 

 flower from April to June on dry pastures. It is a small plant, 

 with a hairy stem that gives off spreading branches, from six to 



