192 LEGUMINOS^ 



smooth leaves marked with beautiful lines, render this a pretty species. It 

 is very rare, growing on rocky banks near the sea, in Cornwall. The 

 Rev. C. A. Johns, who has given an account of this plant in his ' ' Week at 

 the Lizard," remarks, that it is well distinguished from the other species of 

 Trefoil by its 2-seeded pods, which are bulged near the summit, and by its 

 narrow-toothed leaflets, resembling in shape those of the common melilot. 

 It grows at Old Lizard Head, and at Jersey, and is in flower during Jime 

 and July. 



* * * Cahjx, inflated after flowering. 



16. Strawberry-headed Trefoil {T. fmgiferum). — Heads globose, on 

 long stalks; calyx becoming membranaceous after flowering, downy, and 

 remarkably inflated ; stem creeping. Plant perennial. Anyone who noticed 

 this Trefoil would at once think of a strawberry. Its heads of flowers are 

 small, of deep purplish-red, roundish, and becoming, when in fruit, larger, 

 sometimes an inch in diameter, and more decidedly globular. It is not a 

 very common plant on our pasture lands, but the author has found it most 

 abundant on some salt marshes. On the marshes near Pegwell, in Kent, as 

 well as on those about Sheerness, in the same county, it is a frequent flower 

 in July and August. 



17. Reversed Trefoil (T. resupindtum). — Heads of flowers at first 

 hemispherical, gradually becoming round, stalked; corollas inverted from 

 the ordinary position, the front becoming the back part ; calyx mem- 

 branaceous, hairy, and acute, inflated after flowering ; leaflets inversely 

 egg-shaped; stem prostrate. Plant annual. This species, which was pro- 

 bably introduced by ballast, has been found in meadows, near Bristol, near 

 the quay at Ham, in Dorsetshire, and near Liverpool, blossoming in July. 



* * * * Standard withering, hit not falling off ; finally lending down and covering 



the pods ; flower yellow. 



18. Hop Trefoil {T. procilmhens). — Flowers in dense, roundish, oblong 

 heads ; leaves stalked ; leaflets inversely heart-shaped. Plant annual. This 

 Trefoil is very abundant, bearing yellow hop-shaped heads from June to 

 Aixgust, on most of our pasture lands and grassy banks, or field-borders. 

 Several of our Trefoils require a great degree of attention to their characters 

 in order to identify the species, but this may be known at a glance by its 

 yellow oval heads. The only plant for which it could possibly be mistaken 

 would be the hop medick, but that is well distinguished from this by its 

 rugged legume. It is usually about four inches high, and is sometimes sown 

 in fields for fodder, but it is not so nutritious as the common purple or 

 white clover. 



19. Lesser Yellow Trefoil {T.. minus). — Flowers in dense heads, 

 6 to 15 together; leaves scarcely stalked; leaflets inversely heart-shaped, 

 the central one on a longer stalk ; stems prostrate and hairy. Plant annual. 

 This is a common little Trefoil, on diy grassy places, as meadows and road- 

 sides, its small yellow flowers appearing in June and July. It is doubtful if 

 it is essentially distinct from the next species. It differs from it chiefly in 

 having its partial flower-stalks much shorter, and in its standard coxering 



