PEA AND BEAN TRIBE 181 



5, Medick (Medicdgo). 



1. Black Medick, or Nonsuch (M. lupuUna). — Leaflets invereely 

 egg-shaped, finely toothed ; stipules scarcely notched ; flowers in dense 

 oblong heads ; legumes rugged, 1 -seeded, kidney-shaped. Plant annual. This 

 species, which is also called IIoj) Medick, may be very commonly seen flowering 

 from May to September, both on waste and cultivated lands. It very much 

 resembles the common yellow Trefoil; but it is distinguished from the 

 Trefoils by its legume, which is not, like theirs, enclosed within the calyx. 

 The legumes are black, not curved in a spiral form, as in some species, but 

 rough, with veins running lengthAvise. This has been considered a very 

 useful plant in agriculture, and was once deemed the most valuable of all 

 those plants known to farmers as "artificial grasses"; but its culture is now 

 out of repute. The leaves are said to have some medicinal properties, and 

 the roots are sometimes used for cleaning the teeth. The French term this 

 Medick Lujjulim ; the Germans, Hopfinluzerne. It is the Hoppige rupsclaver 

 of the Dutch. Country people of Norfolk call it Black Nonsuch and 

 Shamrock. 



2. Spotted Medick (M. macuUta). — Leaflets inversely heart-shaped; 

 stipules toothed ; flowers 2 — 4 together ; legumes spirally twisted into a 

 prickly ball ; prickles curved. Plant annual. This is not an unfrequent 

 species on grassy lands in the middle and south of England, where gravel 

 prevails in the soil. It has small yellow flowers from June to September, 

 and its leaves are rendered conspicuous by the little purple heart-shaped spot 

 in the centre of each leaflet. The Rev. C. A. Johns says that this plant, 

 which is in Cornwall called Spotted Clover, is there considered very injurious 

 to the pasturage. The coiled and prickly seed-vessel is very curious, and 

 many of the Medicks have seed-vessels still more so. Sheep will eat it 

 readily enough early in the year, but when it begins to develop its prickly 

 pods they refuse to touch it ; so that a pasture containing much Spotted 

 Medick becomes useless, and great effort is made to exterminate it. The 

 Snail-shell Medick of the South of Europe {Medicago scuteUata) has a large 

 seed-vessel formed of numerous coils ; and the still more singular legume 

 of the Hedgehog Medick {Medicago intertexta) has led to the frequent culture 

 of this plant in our gardens. The Moon Trefoil, or Tree Trefoil {Medicago 

 arhorea), which grows wild in Abruzzo, and many parts of the kingdom 

 of Naples, is an exceedingly pretty shrub, with hoary leaves and yellow 

 flowers, which continue long in bloom. The plant al^ounds in several of the 

 islands of the Archipelago, and the Greek monks make the beads for their 

 rosaries of its wood, which is, in the interior of the stem, hard, like ebony. 

 Many writers consider this plant to be the Cytisus of Virgil, Columella, and 

 other ancient writers on husbandry. It is the largest of all the Medicks, 

 and frequently grows to the height of fifteen feet. 



3. Little Bur-medick {M. minima). — Leaflets inversely heart-shaped, 

 downy ; stipules very slightly toothed ; flowers 2 — 4 together ; legumes 

 spirally twisted into a prickly ball ; prickles hooked. Plant annual. This is 

 a rare species, found in sandy fields in Cambridgeshire, on some parts of the 

 coast of Suff'olk, at Pegwell, near Ramsgate, in Kent, and a few other parts 



