AMONG THE WILD FLOWERS. 73 
Then there is the large family of 77zfolum, 
Clover. First in order is 7. mznus, with heads 
of small yellow flowers; 7. f/¢forme is similar, 
but has fewer flowers in the head, besides other 
marks of distinction. 7: procumébens has rather 
larger pale yellow heads of about 4o flowers, 
which at length become tawny. 7. repens, the 
Dutch or white clover, is the plant worn in 
Ireland as the Shamrock on St. Patrick’s 
Day. 
Peculiar to the South, and plentiful in West 
Sussex, though often unobserved, is 7. sabter- 
vaneum, the subterranean Trefoil. This name 
refers to the fact that as the 3 small white 
flowers, of which each head consists, begin to 
wither, they turn downwards to the ground, 
having been previously erect; and from the 
end of the peduncles are produced a number 
of white stellate fibres, adortzve calyces, like 
small waxen hands with fingers outspread, 
which enclose the legumes, as it were, in a cage, 
finally burying them in the soil, where in due 
time they germinate. The plant lies so close 
to the ground that it frequently escapes even 
the lawn-mower. Its growth should be watched 
in order to realize this description. 
