124 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 
gray hairs; leaflets 3, obovate. Flowers rather small, yellow, in 
somewhat erect racemes. Cultivated in greenhouses. From the 
Canary Islands. 
XI. MEDICAGO, Tourn. 
Annual or perennial herbs; leaves petioled, of 3 toothed 
leaflets. Flowers in terminal and axillary spikes or racemes. 
Calyx 5-toothed, the teeth short and slender. Standard 
oblong, much longer than the wings or keel. Stamens 10, 
diadelphous. Ovary sessile. Pod i-several-seeded, coiled, 
not splitting open, often spiny.* 
1. M. sativa, L. Awtratra. Perennial; stems erect, branching, 
downy when young, becoming smooth with age, 2-3 ft. high. 
Leaves short-petioled; leaflets obovate, sharply dentate towards the 
apex, obtuse or sometimes notched or mucronate; stipules lanceolate, 
entire. Flowers blue, small, in rather close spikes ; pods downy, 
coiled, few-seeded. Introduced from Europe, and cultivated for hay. 
and pasture.* ae 
2. M. lupulina, L. Buack Mepickx, Nonesucn. An annual or 
biennial, much branched, reclining herb, with stems from 6-20 in. — 
long. Leaves very short-petioled; leaflets obovate, acute, }-% in. 
long, toothed near the tip. Flowers small, yellow, in short spikes. 
Pods very small, 1-seeded, kidney-shaped, black. Roadsides and 
waste ground, introduced from Europe. 
XII. MELILOTUS, Tourn. 
Annual or biennial herbs. Leaves petioled, of 3 leaflets. 
Flowers small, white or yellow, in dense axillary and terminal 
racemes. Calyx 5-toothed, the teeth nearly equal. Standard 
erect, wings and keel cohering. Stamens 10, diadelphous. 
Pod longer than the calyx, 1-4-seeded.* 
1. M. alba, Lam. Metitorus. Biennial; stem erect, branching, 
smooth or the young branches slightly downy. Leaflets oblong or 
oblanceolate, rounded or truncate at the apex, serrate; stipules small. 
Racemes long, slender, erect. Flowers white. Standard longer than 
the wings and keel. Pod ovoid, wrinkled, drooping, mostly 1-seeded, 
scarcely opening. Common as a weed and widely cultivated.* 
2. M. officinalis, Willd. YrELtow Sweet Ciover. A stout, 
upright, branching herb, 2-4 ft. high, looking much like the preced- 
ing species, but coarser. Flowers yellow. Waste ground and road- 
sides. Introduced from Europe. 
