PEA AND BEAN TRIBE 183 



abundantly in some places, as in several parts of Cambridgeshire. It has 

 a herbaceous branched stem, two or three feet high, its pale yellow flowers 

 are produced from June to August, and the seed vessels are long and laro-e 

 in proportion to the flowers. When growing, it has a strong and somewhat 

 disagreeable odour, but while drying, its scent is very sweet, and like that 

 of new-mown hay ; nor is this scent lost for some years when the plant has 

 been placed in the herbarium. The hay made from this Melilot is more 

 fragrant than that usually made of the meadow grasses. This pleasant odour 

 is owing to a volatile principle, called coumarin, which is well known as 

 giving to the Tonka bean its powerful aroma, and which exists abundantly 

 in the flower of this species, and of the blue Melilot, A distilled water made 

 of the flowers, and slightly perfumed, was formerly sold by druggists in 

 France, and praised for its medicinal virtues, though these must have been 

 very slight. An infusion of the blossoms was in that country also much 

 used as a remedy for ophthalmia, and the author saw the plant a few years 

 since, hanging on strings to dry, in the shops at Paris, and was told that it 

 was used for a variety of maladies. The plant is found by waysides and 

 among bushes, and it may sometimes be seen growing plentifully in the 

 midst of corn-fields. Bees are exceedingly fond of the flowers. This species 

 is called b/ the French Le Melilot conwmn, and also, Mirlilot ; by the Germans 

 Der gemeine Steinklege ; and by the Dutch, Melote. It was formerly very 

 generally used as an ingredient in emollient fomentations. Though its 

 flavour is somewhat bitter and disagreeable to our palates, yet it is liked by 

 cattle, and horses are so fond of it that the Italians call the plant Trifolium 

 caballinum. Ray mentions that it was at one time planted as food for cows 

 and horses. The celebrated Gruyere cheese owes its flavour partly to the 

 flower of this and the blue Melilot, both of which mingle with the herbs of 

 the mountain pasturages, and are abundant in the valley of Gruyere. The 

 seeds and flowers of these plants are bruised, and mixed with the curd before 

 it is pressed. 



2. White Melilot {M. alba). — Stem erect ; legumes egg-shaped, one 

 or two-seeded, blunt, and tipped with a short point ; flowers loosely racemed ; 

 corolla twice as long as the calyx. Plant biennial. This is not truly wild, 

 though occurring in many parts of England and Scotland. Its flowers are 

 white, and appear in July and August. This species is often called Medicago 

 leitcantha. 



3. Field Medick (31. officinalis). — Stem ascending, branched from the 

 base; legumes egg-shaped, one or two-seeded, rugged, obtuse, and tipped 

 with a sharp spine. Plant annual. This is a yellow-flowered species, found 

 near Thetford and Cambridge in July and August, but not indigenous. It 

 is easily known from the other species by its legumes, which are transversely 

 plaited. 



7. Fenugreek (Trigondlla). 



Bird's-foot Fenugreek (T. ornithopodioldcs). — Stems decumbent; 

 flowers two or three together; legumes compressed, twice as long as the 

 calyx, and having about eight seeds ; leaflets inversely heart-shaped. Plant 

 annual. This is a very little plant, and not a very common one, growing 



