A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



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distinctly toothed leaflets, all approximately evenly stalked. 

 Flowers in a loose terminal raceme, violet blue in alfalfa, 

 and in a dense head-like cluster and yellow in the Medic. 

 Pods curved or spirally twisted. Our two species, both Eu- 

 ropean, are : 



Flowers violet blue, pods hairy Alfalfa no. 599 



Flowers yellow; pods practically without hairs Medic no. 600 



599. Alfalfa. Mcdicago sativa. A perennial, branched, more 

 or less sprawling herb i-i^^ ft. high. Leaflets 3, oblong- 

 oval, but broadest towards the tip, minutely toothed. Flowers 

 in a loose, terminal raceme, violet-blue. Pods hairy, coiled. 

 In fields and roadsides. Ontario to Virginia, and westward, 

 where it is much cultivated as a forage crop. August. Fig. 

 599. 



600. Medic. Mcdicago lupidina. More or less prostrate, and 

 more common than No. 599 in the east. Leaflets broader. 

 Flowers yellow, in a close, clover-like, long-stalked head, 

 that arises at the leaf insertions. Pod nearly hairless, black 

 when ripe. Throughout the region. 



601. Melilot. McHloHis alba. A tall much branched herb, 

 3-10 ft. high with very fragrant white flowers, much visited 

 by bees. Leaflets 3, almost perfectly oblong, minutely toothed. 

 Flowers in long, rather loose, numerous terminal racemes. 

 Pods smooth and veiny. Throughout the region in fields and 

 waste places. Native of Eurasia. June-October. Fig. 601. A 

 near relative, M. officinalis, found in similar situations has 

 yellow flowers. 



