84 LEGUMINOS^J. 



breaking the hairs. A Cornish merchant told me that the 

 plant prevails to a great extent in Australia, and so damages 

 the fleeces of the sheep that the wool from such estates sells 

 for a much lower price than that which is free from burs. 



Edward has brought the Purple Medick, or Lucerne 

 (M. sativa, Plate VI,, fig. 6), from Kent. It is a much pret- 

 tier plant than either of its brethren, its lilac flowers being 

 arranged in a large cluster upon its tall leafy stem. It has 

 also spiral seed-vessels, and is much cultivated for cattle. 



The Sickle Medick is scarcely distinct from this, but its 

 flowers vary to yellow and greenish-white. 



There are two small members of this family, the Little Bur 

 Medick, and the Toothed Medick, but we have not found them. 



We now come to the Clovers or Trefoil family, to which 

 the Melilot belongs ; but, as some separate the Melilots into a 

 distinct family, we will discuss them first. The name Melilotus 

 signifies Honey Lotus. This division of the Trefoil family 

 have their flowers in spikes, and their short legumes contain 

 only one seed; the leaf comprises three leaflets. The common 

 Melilot (Melilotus officinalis), used to grow abundantly in the 

 fields which now form the park belonging to the Palace of 

 the Bishop of Ripon. I gathered the present specimen on 

 some waste ground near Starbeck Station, and I have often 

 seen the plant growing on the side of railway cuttings. 



The White Melilot is much scarcer than the Yellow, but 

 frequents the same kind of places. I have never found it. 



The White Clover (Trifolium repens, fig. 7), is a very 

 interesting plant, not only because of the valuable food 

 which its blotched leaves afford to cattle, but because it is the 

 ensign of Ireland, as Moore sings 



" The Shamrock, 

 The green, immortal Shamrock ; 

 Chosen leaf 

 Of bard and chief, 

 Old Erin's native Shamrock." 



But far more touching than any allusion of Moore is the simple 



