150 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



ill blossom throughout the summer. The stem, unlike that 

 of some of the Leguminoste, such as the meadow vetchling 

 or the tufted vetch, needs no external support, but stands 

 boldly up in sturdy self-reliance to a height of about 

 a foot. Both the stem and the leaves are more or less 

 evidently covered with soft and silky hairs. As these, 

 instead of standing out from the foliage and stems, are 

 closely appressed to the stem, they are not at first 

 sight very obvious, but they are perceptible by their smooth 

 silkiness, and by the grey and bloom-like appearance 

 that strikes the eye. The leaves vary in form according to 

 their position on the plant. All are composed of a terminal 

 leaflet and several pairs of laterals, but in the upper leaves 

 the pairs of leaflets that fringe the leaf-stem are more 

 numerous, and all, both terminals and laterals, are very 

 similar in form and size. In the lower leaves the terminal 

 leaflet is broader, larger, and every way more important- 

 looking than the scanty leaflets associated with it. The 

 lowest of all have only one or two pairs of lateral leaflets, 

 while the highest may have any number from four to eight ; 

 and as we examine the plant we see the gradual, but sure, 

 progression from one form to the other. The leaflets are 

 what is termed botanically entire, that is to say, without 

 any marginal lobiugs or serrations of any kind, and all, as we 

 have already seen, are clothed with soft downy hair. The 

 natural grey tint of the leaves is often exaggerated in effect 

 by the roadside dust that freely covers them. The flower- 

 clusters are ordinarily in pairs on the summit of the 

 stems ; this peculiarity may be very well seen in each of 

 the plants we have figured, and each cluster has beneath it 

 a large leaf-like bract, cut into long and numerous segments. 

 The higher of our two figures shows this most clearly, but 



