CHAPTER XIII 



THE WHITE OR DUTCH CLOVER (Trifolium npens) 



At first glance one would scarcely think that 

 the familiar red and white clovers are descendants, 

 still further evolved, from that great family of Pea- 

 flowers to which, as previously seen, belong the 

 laburnum, broom and gorse. It seems quite para- 

 doxical to have to add, moreover, that these herbs 

 of the meadows and pastures stand at the head of 

 their family group, representing the most advanced 

 and most highly specialised species. There are 

 more than twenty recognised British clovers, and 

 some of the simpler species still retain their 

 primitive yellow flowers. It is, however, the 

 better and more advanced kinds, those with 

 white, pink, and purple flower heads, that most 

 appeal to the non-botanist. But even they 

 scarcely explain to those unacquainted with bo- 

 tanical science why the clovers should hold such 

 high rank in their family group. Let us, there- 

 ore, give this point immediate consideration. 



In the first place we have to recognise that the 

 coloured heads of clover blooms are not single 

 flowers like those of broom or gorse. In the case 

 of the laburnum, previously referred to, it will be 

 remembered that it produced its flowers in showy, 

 pendent racemes. Also, I then pointed out that 



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