54 16. LEGUMINOS^. 



pact ovoid racemes; peduncles slender, longer than the leaf; 

 calyx with narrow teeth, shorter than the corolla ; pod 

 small, kidney-shaped, black when ripe, the convex sides with 

 curved concentric nerves; seed 1, ovoid-compressed. 



Moist places, Mount Lofty Range; South-East. — Oct.- 

 May. — Europe; Asia. Often cultivated for feed. 



2. M. sativa,, L. Luceiiic. Sparsely downy peren- 

 nial, with long, thick, woody rootstock ; stems ascending or 

 erect, nuich-branched : leaflets ohiong. toothed at summit; 

 stipules lanceolate, long-pointed, toothed near base; flowers 

 \-iolet or bluish, large, numerous, in dense oblong racemes; 

 peduncles longer than the leaf; pod glabrous or downy, 

 erect, with 3-4 loose coils, open through the centre, brown, 

 faintly netveined, containing several seeds. 



Cultivated for fodder where water lies near the sur- 

 face, or can be supplied by irrigation; now spontaneous in 

 many places. Called Alfdlfa in U.S.A. and Spani.'-li speak- 

 ing countries. — Oct.-Apl. Origin uncertain ; perhaps a cul- 

 tivated variety of the European and Asiatic M. falcdfri, L. 



3. M. SCUtella.ta, All. Simil Medic. Downy-glan- 

 dular annual; leaflets oboval, tootlied ; stipules toothed; 

 flowers yellow, 1-3, on long-awned peduncles shorter than 

 the leaf; pod large, 12-l-"j mm. (over !, in.) across, downy, 

 hemispherical, netveined, with o-O close, concentric coils 

 with thin edges. 



Agricultural areas ; rare. — Sept. -Nov. — Mediterranean 

 region. 



4. M. minima., L. Bmr Mrdir. Prostrate annual, 

 whiti.sli-downy with appressed silky hairs; leaflets oblanceo- 

 late to oboval, toothed at summit; stipules broad, usually 

 entire, veined; flowers small, yellow, on peduncles shorter 

 than the leaf; pod small, doMuy, globular, with 3-4 close 

 coils and numerous slender, divergent, hooked .spines along 

 the blunt border of the coils. 



Pasture. — Sept. -Nov. — Europe; western Asia. 



5. M. maculata, "Willd. Simffrd Midic. Annual, 

 with a few spreading hairs ; leaflets oboval, slightly toothed 

 at summit, usiially with a brown .spot in the centre ; flowers 

 small, yellow, 1-4 on awned peduncles .shorter than the leaf; 

 pedicels shorter than calyx-tube; wings .shorter than keel ; 

 pod glabrous, with 3-4 clo.se coils, bordered by fine, diverg- 

 ing spines, which are not hooked at the end. 



Pasture, Mount Lofty Range. Oct. -Nov. — Western and 

 southern Europe; western Asia. 



6. M. praecox, DC. A little, prostrate, downy 

 annual, resembling a dwarf form of 3/. denticidata, but the 

 flowers are only 1, rarely 2, on peduncles only half as long 

 as the petiole; wing shorter than the keel; pod small, 



