146 BRITISH BOTANY. 



and mucrouate) ; stipules lanceolate^ pointed, entire. Flowers 

 yellow, small, in oblong heads (spikes), on short pedicels ; pe- 

 duncles axillary and longer tlian the leaves. Legumes reniform, 

 pubescent or glabrous, with prominent ridges, one-seeded, curved, 

 black when quite ripe. 



Dry pastures, meadows, and waste ground. Annual ; June- 

 September. 



Var. /8. hirsuta. — Legumes hairy. Dry sandy places, and on 

 walls. 



M. falcata, L. Yellow Sickle Medick.—'E.B. 1016. l.b.s. 259. 

 A. 3. C. 7. Lat. 50-53°. Alt. 0-? Tern. 51-48°. 



Roots thick, persistent, spreading. Stems erect or ascending, 

 with erect, slightly pubescent, and leafy branches. Leaflets ob- 

 long or cuneate, toothed above and mucronate; stipules lanceolate- 

 subulate, half -herbaceous, entire or slightly toothed. Flowers 

 yellowish or greenish-white, on peduncles which are longer than 

 the leaves; the pedicels are about as long as the bracts, and 

 shorter than the calyx. Legumes elongate, falcate* (like a reap- 

 ing-hook) , many-seeded. 



Dry banks. Per. ; June, July. 



M. sylvestris. Fries. Wild Medick. 



This species is unnoticed both in the London Catalogue, and in 

 ' Cybele Britannica.' 



Stem quadrangular, pithy, ascending. Leaflets obovate-ob- 

 long, dentate on the margin of their upper half, notched, mucro- 

 nate. Peduncle many-flowered ; pedicels shorter than the calyx, 

 longer than the bract. Flowers yellow or blackish-green. Le-, 

 ^uvae , annular {ivith one fiat turn) ^ ^ 



Sandy and gravelly places in Norfolk and Suffolk. Perennial ; 

 June, July. {Bahington) 



M. sativa, Lin. Lucerne, or Purple Medick. — e.b. 1749. 

 l.b.s. 258. Alien. 



Root perennial, very long. Stems 1-2 feet high, ascending 

 or erect, glabrous or puberulent, hollow, leafy. Leaflets oblong, 

 notched or truncate, toothed towards the apex, mucronate, with 



* In our specimen the legume is ohlong, not falcate. Smith says, " Legumes 

 black, downy, sickle-shaped, not twisted into a screw as the sativa " (E. F. vol. iii. 

 p. 318). The legume in M. sylvestris is sickle -shaped. Is M. sylvestris of Fries, 

 il^./a?cate of Smith? 



