TRICYRTIS 



TRIFOLUM 



1851 



in which it is the only genus with a septicidal capsule. 

 Monographed in Latin by J. G. Baker in Jouru. Linn. 

 Soc. 17:463 (1880). In this account the lvs. of T. macro- 

 poda are said not to be stem-clasping, but in B.M. 5355 

 they are described and figured as stem-clasping. 



All the names given below are American trade names, 

 except T. flava, Formosana and latifolia. The writer 

 has been tempted to include these, partly because there 

 has been no account in English of all the species, but 

 chiefly because they are desirable plants likely to come 

 into cultivation. 



a. Base of lvs. not stern-clasping,... 1. Formosana 

 aa. Base of lvs. clasping the stem. 



B. Stempilose, with spreading hairs. 2. hirta 

 bb. Stem not prominently hairy, pit- 

 berulous or very slightly pilose. 



c. Fls. yellow, unspotted 3. flava 



CC. Fls, spotted, not yellow. 



d. Spots rather large 4. pilosa 



DD. Spots minute. 



E. Stifle as long as the stigmas. 5. latifolia 

 ee. Style half as long as stigmas. 0. macropoda 



Formosana, Baker. Stem flexuous, 1 ft. high: lvs. 

 sessile, oblanceolate, wedge-shaped at the base: fls. few 

 in a lax corymb, whitish purple, scarcely spotted. For- 

 mosa.— Unique by reason of its lvs. not being stem- 

 clasping. 



hirta, Hook. (2*. JTapinica, Miq.). Fig. 2569. Stem 

 1-3 ft. high, everywhere clad with soft, whitish, spread- 

 ing hairs: fls. G— 15. racemose or subcorymbose, whitish, 

 the outer segments covered with rather large purple 

 spots. Wide-spread in, the woods of Japan. B.M. 

 5355. Gn. 30, p. 431; 49:1002. V. 12:204.- Var. nigra, 

 Hort. ( T. nigra, Hort.), has black instead of purple 

 spots. Gn. 49:1062. A form with variegated lvs. was 

 once offered by Pitcher & Manda. 



2569. Tricyrtis hirta (XM. 



flava, Maxim. Stem dwarf: lvs. oblong- lanceolate 

 fls. racemose, yellow, not spotted. Seen by Maximo 

 wicz in the gardens of Yedo only. 



pildsa, Wall. Stem 2-4 ft. high, very slightly pilose 

 lvs. oblong: fls. numerous, loosely corymbose, whitish 

 with large purple spots; stvle half as long as tin- stig 

 mas. Himalayas, 5,000-6,000 ft. B.M. 4955 (perianth 

 segments narrow, oblong). F.S. 12:1219. 



latifolia, Maxim. Stem glabrous, flexuous, 2-3 ft. 

 high: lvs. broadly oblong or the uppermost ovate: fls. 

 few in a terminal corymb, whitish, with minute purple 

 spots; style as long as the stigmas. Japan. 



macrtpoda, Miquel. Stem 2-3 ft. high, puberulous 

 above: lvs. oblong: fls. in a loose corymb, whitish pur- 

 ple, with minute purple spots: style half as long as the 

 stigmas. Blooms in June and July, according to J. B. 

 Keller. Japan, China. B.M. 6544 (segments broadly 

 ovate, decidedly yellow, spotted red and veined red 

 near tips). — In F.S. 18:1820 is figured a plant with ses- 

 sile lvs. striated with white, and no fls., which he refers 

 to T. macropoda. This was sent out by Van Houtte as 

 T. hirsuta, but it is a glabrous plant and probably lost 

 to cultivation. 



T. grandifldra, Hort., should be compared with T. hirta, var. 

 nigra. It is a name scarcely known to botany. Ellwanger & 

 Barry say it has orchid-like, fragrant lis. in Oct. and Nov. 

 (Baker says the genus has no fragrant fls.) Krelage says that 

 T. granditiora has white fls. mottled with black. ^y _ j^ 



TRIENTALIS (Latin for the third of a foot; refer- 

 ring to the height of the plant). Primulacea. Star 

 Flower. Chickweed-Wintergreen. A genus of two 

 species of low, glabrous, hardy perennial herbs: steins 

 simple, with small scales on leaves below and a whorl- 

 like cluster of larger, nearly sessile leaves at the sum- 

 mit, from the axils of which in spring the star-like 

 white or pink flowers are borne singly on slender pe- 

 duncles. Sometimes grown in wild garden borders 



a. Lvs. acuminate at both ends. 



Americana, Pursh. Stem naked below, 5-9-lvd. at the 

 summit: lvs. lanceolate: divisions of the white corolla 

 finely acuminate. Damp woods, Labrador to Va. V. 

 8:380. 



aa. Lvs. obtuse (acute in var. latifolia). 



EuropaBa, Linn. Stem either naked or with a few 

 scattered lvs. below the cluster of obovate or lanceolate, 

 oblong, obtuse or abruptly somewhat pointed [vs.: di- 

 visions of the white or pink corolla abruptly acuminate 

 or mucronate. Alaska, Eu. and Asia. — Var. arctica, 

 Ledeb. Dwarf: lvs. 1 in. long, decreasing below: corolla 

 white. Var. latifolia, Torr. Stem naked below the clus- 

 ter of 4-7 oblong-obovate, or oval, mostly acute lvs. : 

 corolla white to rose-red. Woods, western California 

 to Vancouver's Island. jp vy Barclay. 



TRIFOLItJM (name refers to the three leaflets). Le- 

 guminosie. Clover. Trifolium is a large genus, com- 

 prising between 200 and 300 species, most abundant in 

 the north temperate zone. They are low herbs, with 

 digitately 3-foliolate (rarely 5-7-foliolate) lvs., stipules 

 adnate to the base of the petiole, and small papiliona- 

 ceous flowers mostly in dense terminal heads or spikes. 

 The calyx is 5-toothed, the 2 upper teetli sometimes 

 connate; petals 5, mostly withering rather than falling, 

 more or less adnate to the base of the stamen-tube; 

 stamens 9 and 1: ovary small, ripening into a little 

 few-seeded, mostly indehiscent pod. The flowers are 

 usually in shades of red and running into white, rarely 

 yellow. 



The Clovers are very important agricultural plants, 

 but they have little distinctly horticultural value except 

 as cover-crops and green manures. See Clover, p. 337. 

 For the role of Clovers as nitrogen-fixers, see Legumes, 

 p. 897. The species described below are offered mostly 

 as forage plants. Many Clovers are perennial, although 

 they are of relatively short life, so that frequent resow- 

 ing is necessary if plants are to be kept in robust con- 

 dition. Some of the species are annual, and these tend 

 to become weeds. All are propagated readily by means 

 of seeds; but as the seeds are small and oily, they may 

 not germinate well in dry, hot soils. Three annual yel- 

 low-flowered species are weeds in some parts, particu- 

 larly in the East, where they have been introduced from 

 Europe: T. agrarium, Linn., Yellow or Hop Clover, 

 with oblong-obovate sessile Ifts. ; T. procumbens, Linn., 

 Low Hop Clover, more spreading, ltts. obovate and the 

 terminal one stalked; T. diil/ium, Sibth., with lfts. 

 truncate or emarginate at apex and the terminal one 

 stalked. A silky-pubescent white-fld. annual species, 

 from Europe, T. arvense, Linn., is the Rabbit-foot 



