510 LEGL'MINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 



13. T. DtjBiuM Sibth. Similar to the preceding but smaller throughout, 

 head? loosely few-flowered ; standard 4 mm. long, about U-nerved, scarcely or 

 not at all striate in age. (T. pi'ocumbens, y?Lr. minus Man. ed. 6.) — Similar 

 situations, Mass. to Va. and Tenn. ; also locally established westw. (Xat. from 

 Eu.) 



19. MELILOTUS [Touru.J Hill. Melilot. Sweet Cloves 



Flowers much as in Trifolium, but in spike-like racemes, small. Corolla de- 

 ciduous, free from the stamen-tube. Pod ovoid, coriaceous, wrinkled, longer 

 than the calyx, scarcely dehiscent, 1-2 -seeded. — Annual or biennial herbs, fra- 

 grant in drying, with pinnately 3-foliolate leaves. (Name from /xAt, honey, and 

 XwTos, some leguminous plant.) 



1. M. OFFICINALIS (L.) Lam. (Yellow M.) Upright, usually tall ; leaflets 

 obovate-oblong, obtuse, closely serrate ; petals yellow, of nearly equal length. 6-9 

 mm. long ; pod 2.5-3.5 ram. long-, glabrous or glabrate, prominently cross-ribbed. 



— Waste or cultivated ground, common. (Nat. from Eu. ) 



2. M. .\LTfssiMA Thuill. Similar ; leaflets linear- to lance-oblong, subentire or 

 remotely toothed ; pod gibbous, 4.5-6 mm. long, pubescent, obscurely reticulate. 



— Ballast about Atlantic ports. (Adv. from Eu.) 



3. M. ixDiCA (L. ) All. Low; leaflets cuneate-oblanceolate or -obovate, 

 truncate or emarginate, toothed above the middle; corolla yelloio. 2-2.5 mm. 

 long; pod gibbous, about 2 mm. long, alveolate. — Ballast and waste places 

 about Atlantic ports. (Adv. from Eurasia.) 



4. M. ALBA Desr. (White M.) Tall ; leaflets narrowly obovate to oblong, 

 serrate, truncate or emarginate ; corolla white, 4-5 mm. long, the standard longer 

 than the other petals ; pod 3-4 mm. long, somewhat reticulate. — Rich soil, road- 

 sides, etc., common. (Nat. from Eu.) 



20. MEDICAgO [Tourn.] L. Medick 



Flowers nearly as in Melilotus. Pod 1 -several-seeded, scythe-shaped, in- 

 curved , or variously coiled. — Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate ; leaflets toothed ; 

 stipules often cut. {^IrjdiKrj, the name of the Alfalfa, because it came to the 

 Greeks from Media. ) 



* Perennials ; pods straighiish or loosely coiled, unarmed. 



1. M. SATivA L. (Lucerne, Alfalfa.) Upright, smooth, perennial ; leaf- 

 lets obovate-oblong, toothed ; flowers bluish-purple, racemed ; pods twisted. — 

 Cultivated for green fodder and often spontaneous. (Introd. from Eu.) 



2. M. falcXta L. Similar ; leaflets linear ; flowers yellow ; pod straightish 

 or scarcely coiled. — Waste ground, eastw., rare and casual ; perhaps not 

 persisting. (Adv. from Eu.) 



* * Annuals ; pods (often armed) reniform or tightly coiled. 



3. M. lupulina L. (Black M., Nonesuch.) Procumbent, pubescent, 

 annual ; leaflets wedgQ-obovate, toothed at the apex ; flowers yelloic, in short 

 spikes; pods kidney-form, 1-seeded. — Waste places, common. (Adv. from 

 Eu.) 



4. M. ARABiCA Hud.s. (Spotted M.) Spreading or procumbent annual, some- 

 what i)>ihescent ; leaflets obcordate, with a purple spot, minutely toothed ; 

 peduncles ?>-b-flovjered ; flowers yellow ; pods compactly spiral, of 2 or 3 turns, 

 compressed, furroived on the thick edge, and fringed with a double row of 

 curved prickles. (M. maculata Sibth.) — Middle Atlantic States to N. B., on 

 waste ground, not common. (Adv. from Eu. ) 



5. M. HfspiDA Gaertn. (Bur Clover.) Nearly glabrous ; pods deeply re- 

 ticulated, and witli a thin keeled edge ; otherwise as the last. (3/. dentirulata 

 WilM.) — Waste places, frequent ; a fodder plant westw. (Introd. from Eu.) 



