20 PLANTS OF BERMUDA. 



bristle-like points one inch ; leaflets one and a half inches, oval, 

 finely toothed, hairy, with white markings; flowers numerous in 

 dense termhial heads one inch in diameter, supported by a pair of 

 opposite leaves and their enlarged bract-like stipules ; calyx-tube 

 strongly nerved, with five unequal, bristly teeth ; wing petals 

 longer than keel ; stamens ten, nine united, the tenth upper one 

 free ; pod small, opening by top falling off, few seeded. Distribu- 

 tion, Europe and North America ; habitat, fields and waste places. 

 Flowers purple ; May and June. 



II. MEDICAGO. 



Flowers in racemose dusters at end of axillary flower-stalk ; i^ocl spirally 

 twisted or coiled. 



1. M. Inpulina (Black clover), A procumbent annual ; stem slen- 

 der, branched, one to two feet long; stipules awl- shaped; petiole 

 one-quarter to one-third of an inch ; leaflets half-inch long, obo- 

 vate, finely toothed and pointed; flower-stalks two inches, termi- 

 nating in a cluster of small flowers ; calyx teeth five, nearly equal ; 

 pods one-seeded, kidney- shaped, not spiny, one- eighth of an inch, 

 black when ripe. Distribution, Europe and North America ; habi- 

 tat, fields, grass-plots, etc., very common. Flowers one-eighth of 

 an inch, yellow ; November to April. 



2. J/, denticulata. A xDrocumbent annual ; stems radiating two 

 to three feet, wiry, polished, closely appressed to the ground, 

 branching and interwoven ; stipules clasping the stem, cut into 

 many narrow-pointed segments ; j)etiole one inch, leaflets three- 

 quarters of an inch, broadly obovate, midrib and veins produced 

 into teeth, the third leaflet distant ; flower- stalks lengtli of petiole, 

 terminating in a few-flowered umbel ; pod flat, spirally coiled two 

 to three times, forming a round head quarter-inch in diameter, 

 and armed with two rows of spines. Distribution, Europe and 

 America ; habitat, fields and waste places. Flowers orange-yellow ; 

 November to April. 



III. MELILOTCS. 



Flowers i?i lojiy racemes at end of axillary flower-stall: ; p)od straight, 



short. 



1. J/, ojfieinaiis (Sweet IMelilot). An erect, branched, annual 

 herb, two feet high ; stipules awl-shaped ; petiole one inch, leaflets 

 two-thirds of an inch, narrowly oblong or obovate, tootlied above 

 the base; flower-stalk one and a half inches to raceme, the latter 

 three-quarters of an inch long ; calyx five-toothed, ribbed ; petals 

 nearly regular, twice the length of calyx ; pod oval, one to two 

 seeded. Distribution, Europe and North America ; habitat, fields 

 and waste places. Flowers orange-yellow ; November to April. 



Cattle are very partial to the four plants last described, but 

 Melilot, if eaten in large quantities, imparts an unpleasant flavour 

 to the milk of cows. 



u. Leaves trifoliate; flowers large, arising from a knob which pro- 

 trudes from stem; calyx with two bracts at base; stamens nine and one 

 (diadelpltoas) ; pod two-vaJved. 



