LEGUMINOS^E 79 



M. minima Lamk. A small downy annual. Leaflets obovate, variable, 

 stipules half-cordate, faintly toothed. Flowers very small, bright yellow. Pods 

 subglobose, faintly reticulate, J in. diameter, margin keeled, with 4 or 5 coils 

 and a double row of close-set hooked spines. 



Sandy fields and dry places, rather rare in the south. March-June. 



M. Tenoreana DC. Annual, rather hairy. Leaflets obovate-cuneate. 

 Flowers small, 1-3 on peduncles shorter than the leaves. Pedicels shorter than 

 calyx-tube. Pod glabrous, rather large, with 4 or 5 loose equal coils and a 

 double row of long spines. 



Fields and dry places. April-May. Commoner than the last. 



*** Pods spiny, in a tight spiral. 



M. marina L. Sea Medicago (Plate XI). Plant quite whitish-tomentose, 

 with woody root-stock, rampant. Leaflets oboval, cuneate, apiculate. Flowers 

 yellow, rather large, 5-10 in tight short clusters. Pod tomentose, cottony, 

 discoid, with 2 or 3 tight coils and a few distant spines. 



Maritime sands, common. April-June. 



M. \\ttora\ls Rhode. Annual or biennial. Leaflets obovate-cuneate, emargin- 

 ate. Stipules toothed, with fine segments. Yellow flowers rather small, 2-4 on 

 peduncles longer than the leaves. Pod glabrous,, small, sub-cylindric, of 3-5 coils, 

 reticulate, flat at each end, spines distant and sometimes almost wanting. 



Maritime sands and banks, common. May-June. 



M. tuberculata Willd. A stout annual, rather hairy. Leaflets oblong or 

 obovate, large. Flowers small, 2-8 on peduncles as long as the leaves. Pod 

 glabrous, flat at base, rounded at top, of 4 or 5 tight coils, covered with tubercles 

 or very short broad spines. 



Fields and road-sides, rare. April-June. Near Hyeres, Nice, etc. 



M. sphserocarpa Bert. = M. Murex Willd. Annual, feebly pubescent. 

 Leaflets obovate-cuneate. Small yellow flowers, 1-4 on short peduncles. Pod 

 glabrous, globose or ovoid, rounded at each end, of 5-7 tight coils, 3-nerved 

 and with short conical spines. 



Borders of fields and grassy places, local. April-June. 



M. Qerardi Willd. = M. rigidula Desr. Annual or biennial, hairy. Leaf- 

 lets obovate, cuneate, slightly emarginate. Flowers 1-2, rarely 3-4, on aristate 

 peduncles. Pod hairy, sub-cylindrical, slightly rounded at each end, of 4-6 tight 

 coils with spreading, hooked spines. A polymorphic species. 



Borders of fields and hill-sides. April-July. 



M. tribuloides Desr. Annual, hairy. Leaflets obovate-cuneate. Flowers 

 rather small, 1-2 on aristate peduncles about equalling the leaf. Pod glabrous, 

 sub-cylindrical, flat at both ends and with 3-5 tight equal coils and strong spread- 

 ing spines, not hooked. 



Borders of fields and waste places on the littoral. March-June. 



Various other species of Medicago (e.g. M. turbinata Willd., M. hispida 

 Gaertn., M. coronata Desr., M. disciformis DC.) are found on the Riviera, 

 but, as Joseph Woods said in "The Tourist's Flora," 1850," the points of compari- 

 son taken by different authors . . . are so various and expressed in such different 

 terms it is impossible to reduce them satisfactorily to an analytical formi". 

 Moreover, they are plants of little importance or beauty excepting the spiral fruits. 



TRIFOLIUM L. 



i. Flowers red, pink, white or yellowish-white. 

 * Heads terminal, calyx hairy or with very unequal ciliate teeth. 

 T. pratense L. Common Purple Clover. Upper leaves opposite ; leaflets 

 oblong. Stipules membranous, free portion triangular, setaceous, appressed to 

 the petiole. Calyx-tube hairy, lo-nerved ; calyx-teeth slender, setaceous, erect 

 the lowest longest. Flowers reddish-purple, in terminal globose sessile heads. 

 Fields, grassy places, and road-sides, common. March- August. 



