300 XLTlll. LKGL'.MUNUSJ.E. 



s. MEDIC AGO, Liun. 

 Herbs, rarely shrubs. Leaves piunately li-f oliolate ; st ipules aduate to 

 tbe petiole : leaflets tootlied. Calyx-tube campanulate ; teeth 5, sub- 

 equal. Corolla free from the staminal-tube ; standard obovate or obloug, 

 contracted at the base, subsessile ; wings oblong ; keel shorter than the 

 wings, obtuse. 8tauieus diadelphous : filauients not dilated at the apex ; 

 anthers uniform. Ovary sessile, usiially many- ovulate ; style subulate, 

 glabrous ; stigma oblique. Pod spirally twisted (rarely falcate), reticu- 

 iately Aeiued, scarcely dehiscent. — Disteib. Europe, W. Asia, Ts"". Africa ; 

 species about 40. 



Pod uuarmed, 1-seeded 1. M. luputina. 



Pod armed, many-seeded. 



Pod covered with spines on the exterior faces as well as on 



tlie margins ... -. -V. laciniuta. 



Pod Covered with spines on the margins but not on the cx- 



tei-ior faces o. M. c/cu/u-iihi/a. 



1. Medicago lupulinaj Linn. Sp. PL (1753) p. 779. Anuual or 

 biennial, more or less pubescent ; stem 1 ft. or more, finely downy, 

 grooved. Leaves 3-foliolate ; petioles ^-1 in. long, slender, more or 

 less pubescent ; stipules subentire or subdentate at the base, lanceolate 

 and acuminate at the apex. Leaflets ^-g in. long, nearly as broad as 

 long, obovate-cuneate, faintly inciso-crenate, slightly retuse and apicu- 

 late M"ith a triangular tooth at the apex. Plowers 10-20, in dense 

 spicate axillary racemes ; peduncles l-lg in. long, filiform : pedicels 

 jL iu. long in fruit; bracts minute, subulate. Calyx jL in. long, hairy 

 outside ; teeth linear-lanceolate, very acute. Corolla scarcely longer 

 than the calyx. Pods indehiscent, unarmed, yL- in. long, glabrous oi- 

 pubescent, svibglobose, arcuately reticulato-venose, black when ripe. 

 kSeed 1, ovoid-oblong, -^ in. long, yellowish-brown, smooth. EI. B. 1. 

 V. 2, p. 90; Boiss. PI. Orient, v. 2, p. 105; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. 

 Nat. V. 11 (1897) p. -421 : AVatt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 5, p. 199.— 

 Plowers : Mav. 



Si.ND- Sehwau, Kanit/carl, Woodroiv. — Distuh!. India vX.W.); Orient, Mediter- 

 ranean, Abyssinia, Afghanistan. 



2. Medicago laciniata, AU. Fl. Pcdcm. v. 1 (1785) p. 310. 

 Anuual ; stems glabrous, slender, reaching 1 ft. long. Leaves 3-folio- 

 late ; petioles h-\ in. long, slender ; stipules laciniate. Leaflets J-g in. 

 long, obovate-ciuieate, truncate or retuse, sharply dentate or sometimes 

 pinnatitid. Peduncles .^-1 in. long, produced into an awn, 2-flowered ; 

 pedicels ,-'.; in. long ; bracts minute, subulate. Calyx g in. long, cam- 

 panulate, faintly pubescent or glabrous outside ; teeth about as long as 

 the tube, triangular, acute. Corolla exserted. Pod globose, of 4-5 

 spirals, which are armed with long sharp close spines on the margins as 

 well as on the exterior faces. Seeds usually b-lO, about ^l-g in. long. 

 Fl. B. I. V. 2, p. 90; Aitch. Pb. & «ind PI. p. 39; Boiss. Fl. Orient. 

 V. 2, p. 104. 



Sisd: Stocks, fide Aitchisoa, Pb. «t iSiud PI. p. o\). 



This plant has been included on the authority of Ailciiison (/. c), who gives it in 

 liis list as having beeu ibuud in Sind by Stocks. — 1 have seen no specimens from Siud. 

 — DiiTiiiu, India (Panjab and Salt range) ; Echichistan, Egypt, Abyssinia. 



