114 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



prostrate, but at the flowering-season freely ascending and a 

 good deal branched. The leaves are a very good illustration 

 of what botanists call pinnate or feather-like leaves, where 

 several leaflets are thrown off on either side of a central stem, 

 that bears them all in the same way that the central part of 

 the quill of a feather has its lateral fringing. The leaflets 

 are numerous, six to eight pairs to each leaf being about 

 the average number ; all are about equal in size, and the 

 terminal leaflet shows no marked difference in bulk. At the 

 base of each leaf we find small and finely-pointed stipules, 

 but the plant has no tendrils. The flower-stalks are 

 terminal and spring from the axils of the leaves, and being 

 considerably larger than the leaves themselves are at once 

 conspicuous ; the cluster of flowers occupies about one-half 

 of their length. The flowers are at first densely packed 

 together, but as the blossoms expand the stalk lengthens 

 and the intervals between them increase considerably. 

 Much of the piece we have figured is yet in the early or bud 

 stage, as it was necessary to show as much as possible of 

 the history of the plant in the limited space available, but 

 even here the elongation and spreading-out of the lower 

 portion is distinctly visible. Where the flower-clusters are 

 thrown out laterally they have often a gentle curvature up- 

 wards. The flowers are of a delicate purplish pink tint, 

 the standard being a good deal streaked with a darker tint 

 of the same character. 



The sainfoin possesses high economic value as a fodder- 

 plant, and on hard chalky soils no plant can be cultivated 

 to greater advantage ; but in rich alluvial valley deposits 

 its near relative, the lucerne, should be substituted, as the 

 sainfoin will not prosper except in dry soils. When once 

 planted it will, if need be, last a dozen years or so. Long 



