PEA AND BEAN TRIBE 71 



to have possessed much botanical knowledge. Some antiquarians 

 contend that, as Ireland was a well-wooded country in St. Patrick's 

 time, the saint very probably selected a leaf of Wood Sorrel (Oxalis 

 acetosella) to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity. 



18. T. hybridum (Alsike Clover). Much like T. repens ; stems 

 usually ascending, 1-2 feet high, never rooting at the nodes ; 

 flowers like T. repens, and bending back with age in the same 

 manner, but the corollas are of a decided pink colour. Established 

 as a cultivated pasture plant, but not a native. Fl. summej 

 Perennial. 



19. T. procumbens (Hop Clover). Stems slender, procumbent, 

 6-12 inches long ; flower-stalks rather long, axillary, bearing globular 

 heads of small yellow flowers ; leaves stalked ; legume i-seeded. 

 Not unlike Medicago lupulina in habit, but at once distinguished 

 when in fruit by the hop-like heads of withered flowers. Specimens 

 occur near the sea, with scanty foliage and comparatively large 

 flowers. Fl. June, July. Annual. 



20. T. minus (Lesser Clover). A small variety of T. procum- 

 bens ; stems more procumbent ; flowers smaller, 4-20 on a head, 

 pale yellow. Both this and T. procumbens are common in dry 

 pastures. Fl. summer. Annual. 



21. T. fllijorma (Slender Clover). Smaller than T. minus ; 

 stems slender, prostrate ; flowers yellow, very small, 2-6 or 7 in 

 a head. Rare. Fl. June, July. Annual. 



9. Lotus (Bird's-foot Trefoil) 



1. L. corniculatus (Bird's-foot Trefoil). Stems prostrate or 

 ascending ; flowers in umbels, 4 or 5-12 together ; calyx-teeth straight 

 in the bud. A pretty flower, known among children by the name 

 of " Shoes-and-Stockings." The foliage is usually smooth, with 

 a few scattered hairs, or more rarely covered with long soft hairs. 

 The flowers on the same plant, and even in the same umbel, vary 

 from bright yellow to deep brownish orange. Fl. July, August. 

 Perennial. A most variable species, some of its forms are so 

 distinct and constant that they have been classed as species, and 

 of these the most important are 



(i) L. idiginosus (Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil). Flowers 5-12 ir 

 an umbel, rich yellow ; calyx-teeth while in bud spreading like a 

 star ; stems nearly erect, tubular, 1-3 feet high, weak, and usually 

 supported by the plants among which it grows ; whole plant more 

 or less covered with soft hair. In damp bushy places ; common. 

 Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



(ii) L. crassifolius. A low-growing form with large flowers, 

 4-6 in an umbel, and glabrous, sometimes glaucous, leaves. Dry 

 pastures. 



