90 LEGUMINOS^. [Mr.i.ii.mrs. 



upwards, the upper free, or only so above the middle; anthers uniform. 

 Style filiform, stigma terminal ; ovules few. Pod short, straight, thick, 

 hardly dehiscent. Seeds 1 or few. Warm and temp, regions of the Old 

 World ; species 10. ETYM. mel and lotus, from the honeyed smell. 



1. M. officina'lis, L. ; erect, petals nearly equal, pod ovoid compn-sst-d 

 acuminate reticulate hairy. 



Fields, &c. from Durham southwards ; very rare in Ireland ; a denizen, 

 \V at. ion; fl. June-Aug. Annual or perennial. Stem 2-3 ft., much branched. 

 Leaflets ^-11 in., obovate- or linear-oblong toothed ; stipules subulate, very 

 slender. Raceme* 3-4 in. Flowers ^ in., secund, deep yellow, pedicels 

 short. Corolla more than twice as long as the calyx. Pud black when ripe, 

 1-2-seeded. DISTRIB. Europe, Siberia, W. Asia to India; introd. in N. 

 America. 



2. M. alba, LamJc.; standard longer than the wings or keel, pod ovoid . 

 acute reticulate glabrous. M. vulgaris, Willd. ; leucantha, Koch. //'////< 

 Mclilot. 



Waste places, not rare, from Norfolk and S. Wales southwards ; Ireland natu- 

 ralized ; an alien or colonist? Watson; fl. July-Aug. Very similar to 

 M. iilh'cinalis, but -more slender ; flowers smaller, white, in long racemes : 

 pods more ovoid and glabrous, also black when ripe. DISTRIB. Europe, 

 Siberia, W. Asia to India ; introd. in N. America. 

 M. ARVEN'SIS, Wallroth ; standard longer than the keel as long as tin- 



wings, pod ovoid obtuse mucronate transversely ribbed rugose glabrous. 



Waste places, chiefly in the E. counties, also in Ireland, not indigenous in 

 either; fl. June-Aug. Habit, &c. of the preceding. Flowert pale-yellow 

 or white. Pod olive-brown when ripe. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Afri. . \V. 

 Asia to N.W. India. 



8. TRIFO'UUM, L. TREFOIL, CLOVER. 



Herbs, usually low. Leaves digitately, rarely pinnately 3-foliolaii ; 

 stipules adnate to the petiole. Flowers capitate or spiked, rarely solitary, 

 red, pin-pie or white, rarely yellow ; bracts small or 0, sometimes forming 

 a toothed involucre. Calyx-teeth 5, subequal. Petals persistent ; wings 

 longer than the keel, the claws of both adnate to the staminal tube. 

 Upper stamens free; all the filaments or 5 of them dilated at the tip ; 

 anthers uniform. Style filiform, stigma oblique or dorsal ; ovules lew. 

 Pod small, indehiscent, 1-4-seeded, nearly enclosed in the calyx. DISTKIH. 

 North temp, and warm regions, rare in Southern ; species 150. ETYM. in 

 allusion to the 3 leaflets. 



SECTION 1. Heads axillary. Fertile flowers few. Calyx enclosing 1 lie 

 1-seeded pod, which at length splits ; its throat naked. Petals < -adin -mis. 

 Pods burrowing in the earth when ripening, then covered by the rdlexed 

 deformed calyces of the other flowers. 



1. T. subterra'neum, L. ; very hairy, stipules broadly ovate :i< -ute, 

 calyx-teeth setaceous as long as the tube, deformed calyces slender with 

 r> rigid palmate lobes. 

 Gravelly and sandy pastures, from Anglesea and Nottingham southwards; 



tl. May-June. Annual ; covered with spreading soft hairs. Steins ^- ^ ft., 



