200 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



The pods, a? the English name implies, are 

 arranged like the fingers of a bird's foot, and when 

 the pods open and are dry the seeds may be scattered 

 a little distance. 



Like the Common Bird's Foot Trefoil this species 

 is a good pasture plant. 



Lotus major. — In Fig. 38 the habit of the plant is 

 well shown, also the timbel-like inflorescence, and the 

 narrow, linear pods. 



Milk Vetch (Astragalus glycyphyllos). 



Not a very well-known plant, Milk Vetch is not so 

 uncommon as may be supposed. 



It is found in all parts of the British Isles up to 

 Ross, in Scotland, and appears to be frequent in 

 East Anglia. 



The habitat is fields, copses, dry open woods, 

 bushy places, frequently on chalky or gravelly soil. 



This plant is prostrate in habit, and the stems are 

 stout, zigzag in arrangement, spreading on the 

 ground. The root-stock is short and stout. The 

 plant is more or less hairless and light-green in 

 colour. The leaves have eleven to thirteen or more 

 leaflets in pairs, the leaflets being ovate, oblong, 

 blunt, smooth above, hairy below. The leaves are 

 longer than the flower-stalks. The stipules are free 

 and ovate to lance-shaped, the lower auricled. 



The flowers are dull yellowish-white, spreading or 

 drooping, borne in a short, dense, compact raceme, 



