LEGUMlNTFERiT;. 149 



(longer than the leaves) ; calyx scarious^ with very unequal 

 setaceous teeth. Legume hairy, consisting of four spiral turns, 

 crowned with the style. — Wandsworth Steam-boat Pier. Annual ; 

 July- September. 



Several other forms of Medicks have been collected during the 

 last five or six years at the Wandsworth Steam-boat Pier ; but 

 they have not been identified with any species of which we have 

 descriptions. 



Melilotus, Tourn. — Annual or biennial plants, with strong, 

 woody, vertical, tapering roots. Stems erect or reclining, round, 

 tapering, branched, leafy. Leaves trifoliate. Flowers yellow, 

 rarely white; calyx campanulate, with 5 erect, slender teeth. 

 Corolla caducous; standard equalling or surpassing the wings; 

 keel obtuse, adhering to the wings. Stamens diadelphous (in 2 

 parcels). Legume straight, longer than the calyx, oblong, 1-4- 

 seeded. 



M. officinalis, Willd. Common Melilot. —Honeij or Sweet 

 Lotus. — E.B. 1340. L.B.s. 264. 



A. 12. C. 40. Lat. 50-57°. Alt. 0-100 yds. Tern. 52-47°. 



Stems 2-3 feet high, erect, glabrous, leafy. Leaves on short 

 petioles. Leaflets oblong, elliptic, often linear, truncate, toothed. 

 Stipules subulate, setaceous, enlarged at the base. Flowers yel- 

 low, numerous, in slender, lax, lateral and terminal clusters, 

 on very short, filiform pedicels, which are reflexed when in fruit. 

 Standards scarcely lonrjer than the wifigs. Legume wrinkled 

 transversely, oblong, attenuated at the summit, furnished with 

 appressed hairs, and terminated by the long slender style. 



In waste places; sometimes in fields. Biennial; June-Sep- 

 tember. 



Var. ? — Flowers very small, in dense, cylindrical- conical, nar- 

 row spikes ; the whole plant slenderer and weaker than the com- 

 mon form. — Wandsworth. 



M. vulgaris, Willd. — M. kucantha, Koch. IVliite Melilot. 

 — "E.B-.^. 2689. L.B.s. ^65. Alien. 



Stem as in M. officinalis. Leaves on rather longer stalks,, 

 with broader, obovate or ovate, toothed leaflets. Flowers white, 

 in shorter clusters than those of M. officinalis. Standard longer 

 than the wings. Legume oblong or obovate, attenu.ated at the 

 apex, wrinkled transversely, containing 3-4 ovules. 



In waste and gravelly places. Biennial ; June-September. 



