DICOTYLEDONS: ARCHICHLAMYDE^ 



293 



genus (Trifolium) containing many species. The most im- 

 portant one to the farmer is the common red clover, afford- 

 ing valuable pasturage and clover hay, and also improving 

 the soil (77). The 

 smaller white clover 

 is also a very fa- 

 miliar plant associ- 

 ated with grasses 

 in lawns, pastures, 

 etc.; and its flow- 

 ers are especially 

 attractive to bees. 

 Alfalfa (lucerne) is 

 another important 

 forage plant related 

 to the clovers, and 

 is especially valua- 

 ble in the West 

 where irrigation is 

 employed. It is a 

 native of western 

 Asia, has long been 

 cultivated in Eu- 

 rope, and was in- 

 troduced into Cali- 



. FIG. 284. A sensitive plant, showing the mconspicu- 



fomia about the ous flowers with numerous stamens, and the sensi- 



middle Of the last tive pinnately compound leaves. -After MEYER 



and ncHtiMANN. 



century. Since then 



it has become the most extensively grown forage plant in 

 the arid regions of the Pacific and Rocky Mountain States. 

 Besides the forage plants, the seeds of certain others are 

 very familiar as food. The cultivated peas are natives of 

 southern Europe and Asia, and have been cultivated for 

 many centuries. They are distinguished as garden peas and 

 field peas, the latter being rather a forage plant. The two 



