LABUENUM MEDICK. 83 



France made the Broom the insignia of a new order of knight- 

 hood, and the members of the order wore a chain of the 

 flowers, from which in allusion to Earl Fulke's reason for 

 wearing it, a gold cross was suspended with the inscription 

 " Dens Exaltat Humilis." 



The Garden Laburnum belongs to this family ; its seeds are 

 an exception to the general rule of the tribe, for they are 

 violently emetic, if not actually poisonous. 



The common Rest Harrow (Ononis spinosa, Plate VI., fig. 5), 

 is a shrubby, hairy plant, with simple leaves, serrated towards 

 the end. The branches bear thorns, and the whole plant is so 

 tough as to be said to arrest the harrow. Some go so far as to 

 assert that this is the "thorn" spoken of in the curse of our 

 first parents, but I see little reason for adopting the opinion. 

 Its flowers are a brilliant pink ; it flourishes on heaths and 

 commons from June to August. My specimen was gathered 

 near Eipon. . 



The small annual Rest Harrow is a very scarce plant, 

 growing only on cliffs in the Mull of Galloway ; it has pale 

 lilac flowers, and leaves composed of three leaflets. 



The useful Medicks come next in order. The Black Medick 

 (Medicago lupulina), is our first specimen. It grows abun- 

 dantly among low herbage, and about the entrances of corn 

 fields; as children we used to call it "Brimstone." It has 

 small yellow flowers, packed closely into an oval cluster, and 

 its leaflets are shaped like eggs upside down. Its legumes are 

 black. 



Our second species is the Spotted Medick (M. maculata), 

 which Fanny brought from Cornwall. It has only two or three 

 flowers in a cluster, and its leaflets have a dark spot on them : 

 hence the name. The seed-vessels are curious and beautiful, 

 twisted round so as to form a ball, and the edges sharply 

 toothed, so as to resemble a bur. On this account the plant 

 is very mischievous in sheep pastures, for the legume gets 

 entangled in the wool, and cannot be taken away without 



