APRIL. 47 



during July and August. A less frequent but very 

 singular species, is the strawberry-headed tre- 

 foil, {Trifolium fragiferum,) which has purplish 

 red flowers an inch in diameter, and is often so 

 coloured as to bear a considerable resemblance 

 to a strawberry. It may, at a glance, be distin- 

 guished, by this circumstance, from the other 

 trefoils ; it is found in meadows during the 

 middle of summer. A calcareous soil is that 

 on which clovers flourish best ; and it is well 

 known that, if lime be strewed on some soils, 

 a crop of clover will arise on lands from seeds 

 which were scattered over them by the wild 

 winds ages since, and which only needed this 

 stimulus to arise and cover the earth. 



The leaves of all trefoils are very sensitive 

 to a moist atmosphere, and close their leaflets 

 when the sun goes down, drooping low beneath 

 the drops of evening dew. They also close and 

 droop when the rain is coming on, and the 

 clover field presents a singular appearance dur- 

 ing a heavy shower. The ancients remarked, 

 that they closed and trembled before a tempest ; 

 but, probably, the movement of gradually enfold- 

 ing leaves was regarded as a trembling ; or, 

 perhaps, the fierce winds, which precede the 

 storm, shook them so much as to originate this 

 idea. 



On dry soils, in warm climates, several species 

 of clover attain a great degree of luxuriance ; 

 though clovers generally are best adapted to 

 temperate regions. In Buenos Ayres clover 

 grows to such a height, that " men and cattle 



