Melilotus.'] L. LEGUMINOS2E. (J. G. Baker.) 89 



BENGAL, KASHMIR and LADAK to KUMAON, alt. 5-12,000 ft. DISTRIB. Af- 

 ghanistan, Orient, South Europe. 



Diffuse, very much branched, glabrous, suberect, 1 ft. or more high. Stipules 

 deeply or faintly toothed, points setaceous ; petiole as long as or exceeding leaflets ; 

 leaflets obovate-cuneate, faintly inciso-dentate, ^-| in. long. Peduncles exceeding the 

 leaves, awned at the tip. Calyx in. ; teeth shorter than the tube. Pod -f in. by 

 in., glabrous, marked with close transverse raised veins. 



13. BIEX.IX.OTUS, Juss. 



Annual or biennial herb. Leaves with toothed pinnately 3-foliolate' leaflets. 

 Floicers in long racemes. Calyx-tube campamilate ; teeth 5, subequal, lanceo- 

 late. Corolla caducous, free from the staminal tube ; standard and wings 

 narrow ; keel straight, obtuse. Stamens diadelphous, filaments not dilated ; 

 anthers uniform. Ovary sessile or stipitate, few-ovuled ; style filiform, glabrous, 

 much incurved, stigma terminal. Pod oblong, much exserted, indehiscent. 

 DISTRIB. Species about a dozen ; spread through the temperate regions of the 

 Old World. 



1. IKE. parviflora, Desf.; DC. Prodr. ii. 187 ; annual, corolla pale yellow 

 minute, standard exceeding wings and keel, pod glabrous. Wall. Cat. 5943 A, 

 B.'; W. Sf A. Prodr. 196; Bow. Fl. Orient, ii. 108. M. indica, All. FL Ped. i. 

 308. M. minima, Roth ; DC. Prodr. ii. 189. ^rifolium indicuni, Linn. ; Roxb. 

 FL Ind. iii. 388. 



WESTERN PENINSULA, BENGAL, NORTH WEST PROVINCES, tropical zone. DIS- 

 TRIB. Orient, Europe, and introduced in many other regions. 



Stems slender, 1-1^- ft. high. Stipules linear acuminate ; leaflets obovate or ob- 

 lanceolate, retuse or emarginate. Flowering -racemes close ; fruiting-racemes 1-2 in. 

 Calyx ^ in. ; teeth deltoid. Corolla not more than in. long. Pod y^-^-in., obscurely 



reticulato-lacuuose, usually 1-seeded. M. parviflora, Wall. 5943 D, is M. italica, 

 Lam., only known in India in cultivation. 



2. M. alba, Lamk. Diet. iv. 63 ; biennial, corolla white, standard exceed- 

 ing wings and keel, pod glabrous. Boiss. Fl. Orient, ii. 109. M. altissima, 



Wall. Cat. 5942, non Thuill. M. leucantha, Koch; DC. Prodr. ii. 187; W. $ 

 A. Prodr. 196. M. vulgaris, Willd. Enum. 490. 



Northern Provinces, ascending from the plains of BENGAL to 12-13,000 ft. in 

 NTJBRA, and 11,000 ft. in LADAK. DISTRIB. Europe, Orient, Siberia, &c. 



Much taller and more robust than the last. Stipules and leaflets similar. Racemes 

 in flower 1^-2 in., in fruit 3-4 in. long. Calyx under ~ in. ; teeth lanceolate, shorter 

 than the tube. Corolla always white, inodorous, 2-3 times the length of the calyx 

 in the temperate zone, nearly as small as in M. parviflora in the plains. Pod as in the 

 last, but larger, often 2-seeded. 



3. !. officinalis, Willd. ; DC. Prodr. ii. 186 ; biennial, corolla yellow, 

 standard the same length as the wings and keel, pod hairy. Boiss. Fl. Orient. 

 ii. 109. M. macrorhiza, Pers. ; DC. Prodr. ii. 187. M/altissima, Thuill. Fl. 

 Par. 378, non Wallich. Trifolium officinale, Willd. ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 388. 



NuBRAand LADAK : 10-13,000 ft., Thomson, Stewart. DISTRIB. Europe, Orient, &c. 



Very like M. alba in general habit and identical in stipules and leaflets. Eacemes 

 denser, and not quite so long. Calyx -^ in. ; teeth lanceolate, as long as the tube. 

 Corolla linear, yellow, odorous, usually three times as long as the calyx. Pod dis- 

 tinctly stipitate, in. long, 1-2-seeded, not so obtuse. 



14. DTEDECAGO Linn. 



Herbs, rarely shrubs. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate ; leaflets toothed. Calyx- 

 tube campanulate ; teeth 5, subequal. Corolla more or less exserted, free 



