LEGUMINIFERZ. 29 
GENUS VIIT—MELILOTUS. Tournef. 
Calyx campanulate, 5-toothed ; teeth elongated, sub-equal, or the 
upper one shorter. Corolla deciduous. Standard scarcely spreading, 
equal to or longer than the wings and keel; wings not cohering 
at the apex, adhering to the keel above the claw. Keel obtuse ; 
stamens diadelphous, not adhering to the petals; filaments not 
dilated towards the apex. Style filiform, glabrous; stigma terminal. 
Pod stipitate, exserted, ovoid or oblong, straight, 1- to 4-seeded, 
indehiscent. 
Herbs (generally biennial) with the leaves pinnately trifoliate ; 
the leaflets usually finely and acutely toothed; the stipules adnate 
to the petioles; flowers yellow, more rarely white, in slender 
elongated stalked racemes. 
The name of this genus comes from the words mel, honey, and lotus ; meaning 
honey-lotus. The plants are a favourite resort of bees. 
SPECIES I—MELILOTUS OFFICINALIS. Wiiid. 
Puate CCCXLI. 
Hook. & Arn. Brit. Fl. ed. viii. p. 100. Benth. Handbook Brit. Fl. p. 162. Wadlroth, 
Sched. Crit. p. 390. ries, Sum. Veg. Scand. p. 48. 
M. macrorrhiza, Pers. Syn. Plant. Vol. II. p. 348. Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ. et Helv. 
ed. ii. p. 182. Gr. & Godr. Fl. de Fr. Vol. I. p. 402. 
Trifolium officinale, Sm. Eng. Bot. No. 1340. 
T’. Melilotus officinalis, var. y, Zinn. Sp. Pl. ed. ii. p. 1078. 
T. macrorrhizum, Waldst. und Kit. Pl. Rar. Hung. Tab. XX VI. 
Root much thickened, and elongate. Stem erect, branched 
throughout. Racemes elongated, dense both in flower and in fruit. 
Corolla more than twice as long as the calyx ; standard, wings, and 
keel, all equal in length. Pod obovate-ovoid, shortly stipitate, 
shortly acuminate and apiculate at the apex, faintly reticulated 
with indistinct raised veins, and with short adpressed hairs on the 
sides. 
In bushy places, borders of fields, and by roadsides. Rather rare, 
but pretty generally distributed in the southern part of the Island, 
especially near the coast; rare in Scotland, and probably introduced 
in most of the localities: it has the appearance, however, of being 
wild in Haddingtonshire. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Biennial or perennial. Late 
Summer and Autumn. 
