Lotus.'] L. LEGUMINOSJE. (J. G. Baker.) 91 



Tropical zone of the north-west : SCINDE, BENGAL, OUDE, PUNJAB, KUMAON, &c. 

 DISTRIB. Orient, Abyssinia, Europe, Japan, China, Siberia. 



Stems subglabrous, more robust than in M. minima and laciniata. Leaflets $ | in. 

 long, obovate-cuneate, faintly toothed. Peduncles short, closely 2-6-flowerecl, not 

 awned. Calyx i in. ; teeth lanceolate, as long as the tube. Pod with 2-4 spirals, 

 the veined face - in. broad without the spines, which are -^-^ in. long in the type, 

 but reduced down to mere tubercles in the var. M. apiculata, Willd. 



6. TfL. minima, Lanik. ; DC. Prodr. ii. 178 ; annual, stipules subentire, pod 

 small subglobose spiral muricated. JBoiss. Fl. Orient, ii. 103. 



KASHMIR, alt. 5-6000 ft., D. Thomson. DISTRIB. Afghanistan, Orient, Mediter- 

 ranean, Abyssinia, Europe. 



Finely downy, the stems under ^ ft. long. Petioles as long as the leaflets, which are 

 obovate-cuneate, 5 f in. long, distinctly toothed. Peduncles as long as the leaves, 

 closely 2-5-flowered, not mucronate. Calyx -^ in., finely downy ; teeth linear-seta- 

 ceous, as long as the tube. Corolla distinctly exserted. Pod ^ in. broad, exclusive of 

 the long spines, formed of 4-o close spirals. 



15. LOTUS, Linn. 



Herbs. Leaves usually 5-foliate, the lowest pair of leaflets arising from the base 

 of the petiole like stipules. Calyx tube campanulate, teeth subequal. Corolla 

 caducous, free from the starninal tube; standard obovate clawed, exceeding 

 the wings and incurved shortly beaked keel. Stamens diadelphous, filaments 

 dilated at the apex ; anthers uniform. Ovary sessile, many-ovuled ; style long, 

 abruptly inflexed, stigma terminal. Pod linear, turgid, septate between the 

 seeds. DISTRIB. Species 50 or more, spread through North and South temperate 

 regions. 



L. major, Scop, is in Bellew's Kashgar collection. 



1. Xi. corniculatus, Linn. ; DC. Prodr. ii. 214 ; herbaceous, leaflets 5, 

 upper 3 remote from lower 2, flowers in peduncled terminal umbels. JBoiss. FL 

 Orient, ii. 165. L. bracteatus, Wall. Cat. 5939. 



WEST HIMALAYAS, as far east as NIPAL, principally in the temperate zone up to 

 10,000 ft., but descending into the plains. DISTRIB. Europe, Orient, Abyssinia, Japan, 

 Australia. 



Perennial. Stems slender, glabrous or obscurely silky. Leaflets 5, the end one 

 sessile and two lowest stipule like. Flowers 4-8 in a close umbel, subtended by a re- 

 duced trifoliolate leaf, at the end of a long peduncle. Calyx ^ in. ; teeth lanceolate-cus- 

 pidate. Corolla showy, 2-3 times as long as the calyx. Pod cylindrical, straight, f-1 

 in. long. 



VAR. minor ; a dwarf form, from the plains of Scinde with solitary flowers and 

 fleshy leaflets - in. long. 



2. I.. ? Garcini, DC. Prodr. ii. 212 ; suflruticose, leaflets 3 all sessile 

 rarely 5, flowers sessile axillary solitary. JBoiss. FL Orient, ii. 174. Ononis 

 Aucheri, Jaub. $ Spach III. PL Orient, t. 96. L. Stocksii, Boiss. FL Orient. 

 ii. 174. 



SCINDE in sandy ground near the sea, Stocks. DISTRIB. Through Persia to Nubia. 



Habit less like that of a Lotus than of an Ononis, to which genus it also approaches by 

 its slightly dimorphous anthers. Stems |1 ft., copiously stiffly branched, covered like 

 the leaves with short grey tomentum. Leaflets pale, fleshy, 5 fin. long, obovate-cune- 

 ate. Flowers copious, inconspicuous. Calyx ^ in., densely downy ; teeth linear, 

 twice the tube. Corolla not exserted. Pod linear, straight, 5-6-seeded, f- in. long. 



