LEGUMINOS.E. LXXIII. LOTUS. LXXIV. TETRAGONOLOBUS. 



199 



Horned or Common Bird's-foot Trefoil. Fl. June, Sept. Brit. 

 PI. recumbent. 



42 L. MA'JOR (Scop. earn. 2. p. 86.) stem erect, tubular, 

 more or less pilose, rarely smooth ; leaflets obovate, fringed, or 

 hairy ; peduncles long, bearing from 6-12 flowers in an umbel ; 

 calycine teeth stellate ; claw of vexillum linear ; shorter fila- 

 ments not dilated ; legumes drooping, terete. If. . II. Native 

 of Europe, in wet bushy places, osierholts, and in hedges and 

 ditches. Smith, engl. bot. 2091. Lotus corniculatus y, Smith, 

 fl. brit. 794. L. corniculatus /3, Hook. scot. 220. L. corni- 

 culatus /3, major, Ser. mss. in D. C. prod. 2. p. 514. L. uligi- 

 n6sus, Schkuhr. handb. 2. t. 211. Flowers larger and of a 

 duller orange-colour than those of L. corniculatus. ^\ hether 

 there may be any difference in the agricultural qualities of these 

 two plants, and whether the present might be capable of culti- 

 vation in wet meadows, no one has hitherto inquired. 



I'ar.p, villosus ; stems and leaves villous ; erect. L. villosus, 

 Thuill. fl. par. ed. 2. p. 387. 



Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil. Fl. Jul. Aug. Brit. PI. 1 to 3 ft. 



43 L. CKASSIFOLIUS (Pers. ench. 2. p. 354.) plant glaucous 

 and pilose ; stems recumbent ; leaflets ovate, fleshy ; root thick, 

 fibrous. 1. H. Native of the south of Europe, in sterile 

 places by the sea-side. Flowers yellow. L. corniculata S, cras- 

 sifolius, Pers. 1. c. 



Thick-leaved Bird's-foot Trefoil. Fl. July, Sept. Clt. 1812. 

 PI. recumbent. 



44 L. TE'NUIS (Kit. in Willd. enum. 797.) plant glabrous ; 

 stems decumbent, branched ; leaflets and stipulas linear-lan- 

 ceolate, glabrous ; legumes usually 4 in an umbel, terete, awned. 

 If. . H. Native of Europe, in waste places, particularly in 

 Hungary and France. L. depressus and L. humif usus, Willd. 

 enum. suppl. p. 52. ex Link. enum. 2. p. 265. L. tenuif olius, 

 Poll. pal. 2. p. 711. L. corniculatus ;, tenuif olius, D. C. prod. 

 2. p. 214. Flowers yellow. 



Slender Bird's-foot Trefoil. Fl. Jul. Aug. Clt. 1816. PI. pr. 



45 L. FORSTE'RI (Sweet, hort. brit. p. 206.) stems recumbent, 

 nearly solid, angvdar, smooth, and glaucous ; leaves glaucous, 

 smooth above, but occasionally clothed beneath with short, 

 close-pressed, bristly hairs ; leaflets and stipulas similar, lanceo- 

 late, pointed, oblique, except the terminal one, which is obovate- 

 lanceolate ; peduncles 4 or 5-times the length of the leaves, 

 each bearing an umbel of 3-6-flowers, accompanied by a ter- 

 minal leaf; calyx having its teeth shorter than the tube ; le- 

 gumes spreading, cylindrical, 2-edged. I/ , H. Native of Bri- 

 tain in fields and meadows ; at Hastings, Sussex ; near Bulver- 

 hithe ; also in meadows near Tonbridge ; in Scotland, in moors 

 near Forfar, particularly in the Forest-moor, and at Balincho on 

 the road to Kerrymuir. The plant is said also to be a native 

 of Switzerland and the Levant, as well as on the sandy shores 

 of Sicily. L. deciimbens, Forst. tonb. 86. Smith, eng. fl. 3. 

 p. 314. but not of Poir. Flowers bright-yellow. This plant 

 approaches nearest to L. pedunculatus of Cav. icon. t. 164. but 

 its stem is said to be erect, about 3 feet high, and every part of 

 the plant is perfectly smooth. 



Forster's Bird's-foot Trefoil. Fl. July. Brit. PI. recumb. 



46 L. PEDUNCULA'TUS (Cav. icon. 2. p. 52. t. 164.) plant 

 smooth ; stems erect ; leaflets lanceolate, acute, terminal one 

 stalked ; stipulas ovate, somewhat cordate ; peduncles very 

 long, bearing each a capitate umbel of flowers ; bracteas lan- 

 ceolate, acute, longer than the calyx, which is rather campanu- 

 late ; calycine segments nearly equal, acute, length of tube, but 

 much shorter than the corolla. Tf.,1 H. Native of Spain. 

 Flowers yellow. 



Long-peduncled Bird's-foot Trefoil. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 

 1814. PI. 1 to 3 feet. 



47 L. PALU'STRIS (Willd. spec. 3. p. 1394.) stems branched, 



erect, and are as well as the leaves hairy ; leaflets obovate, 

 acute ; stipulas ovate, rather cordate, size of the leaflets ; heads 

 usually 4-flowered ; legume terete, glabrous. I/. . H. Native 

 of Candia. Flowers yellow. Habit of L. corniculatus. 



Marsh Bird's-foot Trefoil. Fl. July. Clt. 1821. PI. 1 ft. 



48 L. AMBI'GIL-S (Besser. ex Spreng. syst. 3. p. 282.) plant 

 herbaceous, decumbent ; leaflets obovate-oblong, acute, and are 

 pilose as well as the ovate stipulas ; umbels of flowers on long 

 peduncles, somewhat bracteate ; legumes torulose, obtuse, awned, 

 spreading. O- H. Native of Volliynia. Flowers yellow. 



Ambiguous Bird's-foot Trefoil. PI. decumbent. 



f- Species not sufficiently known. 



49 L. INTERME'DIUS (Pers. ench. 2. p. 354.) stems erect, 

 villous, herbaceous ; leaflets obovate-lanceolate, acuminated ; 

 heads roundish, containing 6-8-flowers, axillary, on long pedun- 

 cles. O- H. Native of? Flowers purplish. 



Intermediate Bird's-foot Trefoil. Fl. June, July. PI. i foot. 



50 L. TRIFOLIA'STRUM (Desrous. in Lam. diet. 3. p. 612.) 

 plant hairy ; stems prostrate ; leaflets ovate, obtuse ; stipulas 

 ovate, acute, small ; flowers capitate ; calyx bilabiate ; upper 

 lip 2-lobed ; lobes acute ; lower lip tridentate ; bracteas seta- 

 ceous ; corolla length of calyx ; legume turgid, villous. 3/.H. 

 Native of the Levant. Perhaps a species of Dorycnium. 



Trefoil-like Bird's-foot Trefoil. PI. prostrate. 



51 L. CA'NDIDUS (Mill. diet. no. 7.) stems erect, branched, 

 hairy ; leaflets tomentose ; heads of flowers nearly globose, 

 hairy. ^ . H. Perhaps Dorycnium tomentosum. Flowers pale- 

 red or white. 



White Bird's-foot Trefoil. Fl. June, Aug. PI. 2 to 3 feet. 



Cult. The hardy species of Lotus are well adapted for orna- 

 menting rock-work or dry banks. The seeds of the annual kinds 

 only require to be sown in the open border or on rock-work in 

 spring. The greenhouse and frame kinds grow well in any 

 light soil, and young cuttings of them will root if planted in a 

 pot of sand, with a hand-glass placed over them ; however, all 

 the species are most easily increased by seeds. 



LXXIV. TETRAGONO'LOBUS (from rpa e , telras, four, 

 yutvia, gonia, an angle, and Xo/3oc, a pod; in reference to the 

 legumes, which are furnished with 4 wings or angles). Scop, 

 earn. 2 p. 87. Mcench. meth. p. 164. D. C. prod. 2. p. 215. 

 Scandalida, Neck. elem. no. 1306. 



LIN. SYST. Diadelphia, Decandria. Calyx tubular, 5-cleft. 

 Wings shorter than the vexillum. Carina beaked. Style flex- 

 nous. Stigma funnel-shaped, at length obliquely beaked. Le- 

 gume cylindrical, furnished with 4 foliaceous wings, so as to 

 give it a tetragonal appearance. Herbs, with broad leafy sti- 

 pulas, trifoliate leaves, winged petioles, alternate leaflets, axil- 

 lary, 1-2-flowered peduncles, each furnished with a bractea or 

 floral leaf at the apex. 



1 T. PURPU'REUS (Mcench. meth. p. 164.) plant pilose ; stems 

 rather decumbent ; leaflets obovate, entire ; stipulas ovate ; 

 flowers solitary or twin ; bracteas longer than the calyx ; legumt 

 glabrous, with broad wings; seeds globose. 0. H. Native 

 of the south of Europe. Lotus tetragonolobus, Lin. spec. 1089. 

 D. C. fl. fr. 4. p. 553. Curt. bot. mag. 151. J. Bauh. hist. 2. 

 p. 258. f. 2. Flowers dark-purple. 



Far. ft, minor (Moricand, herb.) stem, leaves, and legumes 

 much smaller. 



Purple Winged-pea. Fl. June, Aug. Clt. 1769. PI. 1 foot. 



2 T. BIFLORUS (Ser. in D. C. prod. 2. p. 215.) plant pilose, 

 rather decumbent; leaflets obovate, somewhat mucronulate, 

 entire ; stipulas orbicularly-oblong, acuminated ; flowers twin 

 or tern ; bracteas ovate, shorter than the calyx ; legumes pilose, 

 with narrow wings ; seeds almost globose. O- H. Native of 

 Barbary, and infields about Palermo. Lotus biflorus, Desrous. 



