LEGUMINOS^E 87 



A. epiglottis L. (a slender, annual, greyish species with triangular- 

 cordate pods) is found above La Valette on the slopes of Coudon, and nowhere 

 else in France. April-May. Leaflets narrow, 4-7 pairs. 



No species of Oxytropis DC. or of Phaca L. descends to the limit adopted 

 in this book. Qlycyrrhlza glabra L. has been found naturalized on Por- 

 querolles. 



ORNITHOPUS L. BIRD'S-FOOT. 



0. perpusillus L. Common Bird's-foot. Plant pubescent, slender, pros- 

 trate. Upper leaves sessile, with 5-12 pairs of oblong leaflets. Calyx-teeth 

 half length of tube. Flowers very small, white mixed with yellow and pink, 

 3-8 or. short peduncles. Bracts pinnate, rather longer than the head of flowers. 

 Pods hairy, black when ripe, slightly curved, much constricted between the seeds. 

 Sandy places, very rare in Alpes-Marit. (Nice, Antibes). May-July. 



O. compressus L, Plant covered with whitish hairs, more or less pros- 

 trate. Upper leaves sessile, with 6-15 pairs of oblong leaflets. Calyx-teeth 

 half length of the tube. Bracts pinnate, much longer than the head of small 

 yellow flowers. Flowers 3-5 in umbells. Pod large, linear compressed, sickle- 

 shaped, pendent when ripe, strongly striate of 5-8 articles not contracted between 

 the seeds, the last article hooked. The three species are annual. 



Dry, sandy places, common. April- May. 



O. ebracteatus Brot. = Arthrolobium pinnatum Britten and Rendle. 

 (Arthrolobium is a small genus scarcely distinct from Coronilla and 

 differing from Ornithopus chiefly in the want of floral leaves or bracts.) 

 Glabrous or slightly pubescent, green, diffuse, slender. Leaves all pettoled, of 

 3-6 pairs of oblong spreading leaflets. Stipules very small. No leafy bracts. 

 Flowers yellow on slender peduncles equalling the leaves. Calyx-teeth ex- 

 tremely short. Pods slightly constricted between the seeds, sickle-shaped, 

 beaked, very slender, 10-14 jointed. 



Maritime sands and sandy fields. April-May. 



HIPPOCREPIS L. 



H. comosa I/. Horse-shoe Vetch. A glabrescent plant with perennial root- 

 stock. Leaves pinnate, with a terminal leaflet. Leaflets in 4-7 pairs, linear-oblong, 

 the lowest pair at a distance from the stem. Flowers bright yellow, like those of 

 Lotus corniculatus, nodding, shortly pedicelled, 5-8 in an umbel on a peduncle 

 twice the length of the leaves. Pods about an inch long, upper margin deeply 

 notched opposite each seed, breaking up into 3-6 horse-shoe-like joints and finely 

 pointed. 



Dry, rocky banks, etc., especially on limestone. April-June. 



H. unisiliquosa L. Annual, glabrous. Leaflets in 4-7 pairs, oblong. 

 Flowers yellow, small, erect, solitary and almost sessile in the axils of the leaves. 

 Upper lip of calyx with divaricate teeth. Pod solitary, very large, i^ in. long, 

 (2-4 cm.), glabrous, pale. Upper margin so'deeply notched as to form completely 

 closed rings between the joints (3-7). Claw of petal shorter than calyx. 



Stony places and dry fields. April-May. 



H. multisiliquosa L. =. H. ciliata Willd. Annual, glabrescent. Leaf- 

 lets in 3-5 pairs. Flowers yellow, small, pendent, 2-5 on peduncles nearly as 

 long as the leaves. Upper lip of calyx with divaricate teeth. Claw of petal 

 extending beyond the calyx. Pods 2-5, 2-3 cm. by 3-4 mm., almost always 

 glandular and reddish, 5-8 jointed, with rounded notches almost completely 

 closed. 



Dry places and hill-sides, not common. April-June. 



CORONILLA L. 



* Flowers pink. 



C. varia L. Pink Coronilla. Plant glabrous, green, rampant. Stems 

 herbaceous, hollow, often 3-4 ft. long. Leaves imparipinnate, of 7-12 pairs of 



