MEADOWS, FIELDS AND PASTURES— SUMMER 215 



June to August, are usually clustered into two dense heads at 

 the tip of each stalk, with a deeply-divided bract at the base of 

 each head. The calyx is densely covered with silky haus ; and 

 the small corolla varies in colour from pale yellow to red. 



In the neighbourhood of cultivated fields we may frequently meet 

 ^vith the Lucerne or Purple Medick {Medicago sativa). This is 

 not a British plant, but it has been introduced and largely cultivated, 

 and is commonly found as 

 an escape. It has an erect 

 stem, from one to two feet 

 high ; and the flowers 

 bloom during June and 

 July, followed by smooth, 

 spkally - twisted pods of 

 two or three coils. This 

 plant appears on Plate IV, 

 Fig. 2. 



In the genus Melilotus, 

 of the same order, we have 

 to note three species, all of 

 which agree in the following 

 particulars : — They have 

 trifohate leaves ; and small, 

 white or yellow flowers in 

 long racemes on axillary 

 peduncles. The calyx has 

 five teeth, and the corolla 

 falls after it fades. The 

 stamens are ten in number, 

 the upper one quite free, 

 while the filaments of the 

 other nine are united into a 



split tube that surrounds the ovary. The pod is only a httle 

 longer than the calyx, rather thick in proportion to its length, 

 with only one or two seeds, and it does not spht when ripe. 

 The tliree species referred to may be identified by the following 

 descriptions : — 



The Common Mehlot {Melilotus officinalis) is a smooth plant, 

 with a branched stem from two to four feet high ; and long-stalked 

 leaves with roundish or oval leaflets, and naiTOw, pointed stipules. 

 The flowers are very numerous, yellow, about a quarter of an inch 



THE KIDNEY VETCH. 



