216 



FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



long, in long racemes. The petals arc equal ; and llic hairy pods 

 are only about a sixth of an inch long. 



Tlie Field MeUlot (M. orvensis) is very similar, but not so tall, 

 and the flowers arc less numerous. The ' keel ' is shorter than the 

 other petals ; and the pods are ribbed and blunt. The third sjiecies 

 — the White Melilot (M. alha) — is also very similar, l)ut it has white 

 flowers, in which the ' standard ' or uj)per petal is tlie longest. All 



tliree species flower from June 

 to August, but only the first 

 may be described as common. 

 The genus Trifolium, con- 

 taining the Clovers and Trefoils, 

 resembles Mdilotus in its tri- 

 foliate leaves, five-toothed 

 calyx, and in the arrangement 

 of the stamens ; but it differs 

 in that the stipules adhere to 

 the leaf stalks, and the corolla 

 often persists round the ripened 

 fruit. Several species of this 

 group are common in fields and 

 pastiu-es. 



One of these is the Clustered 

 Clover or Smootli Round- 

 h e a d e d - T r e f o i 1 ( Trifolium 

 f/lomeratum) — a smooth plant, 

 with piu'ple or pink flowers, 

 found principally in the dry 

 pastui'es of South and East 

 p]ngland, flowering during June 

 and July. Its spreading stems 

 are from six to twelve inches 

 long ; and the heads of flowers are small, sessile, globular, and 

 cither axillary or terminal. The calyx is ten- veined, shorter than 

 the corolla, with five pointed teeth which bend outwards as the 

 fruit ripens. 



The Strawberry Trefoil (7'. fragifrrum) lias long-stalked, axillary 

 heads of rose-coloured flowers which l)ccome very compact and 

 strawberry-like w hen fruiting, at whicli time the}' are half an inch 

 or more in diameter. Its creeping stem roots at the nodes ; and 

 the leaves are long-stalked, with toothed leaflets. Each head 



Tim COJIMON MEULOT 



