76 LEGUMINOS7E. [Melilotus. 



1. O. arvensis, Linn. Common Rest-harrow. Stem hairy; 

 branches at length spinous ; flowers mostly solitary ; leaves 

 ternate below, the rest simple, serrated, entire at the base. 

 Br. Fl. \.p. 320. E. Ft. v. Hi. p. 267. E. Bot. t. 682. 



Barren pastures, borders of fields, and by the sea-side. Fl. June 

 Aug. 1. A very variable plant, erect, or procumbent and rooting, 

 more or less spinous. Leaves ovate or cuneate. Flowers rather 

 large, rose-coloured, sometimes white. Smith enumerates three vars. 

 and De Candolle makes of them two species, O. procurrens and O. 

 spinosa. 



6. ASTRAGALUS. Linn. Milk-vetch. 



Keel of the corolla obtuse. Legume 2-celled (more or less per- 

 fectly) ; cells formed by the inflexed margins of the lower su- 

 ture. Named from aa-rpa^aXos, the vertebra, in allusion to the 

 knotted root of that individual plant to which it was formerly 

 applied. Diadelphia. Deoandria. 



1. A. hypoglottis, Linn. Purple Mountain Milk-vetch. Stem 

 prostrate ; leaflets slightly emarginate ; legumes erect, capitate, 

 hairy; their cells 1-seeded. Br. Fl. 1. p. 325. E. Fl. v. iii. 

 p. 294. E. Bot. t. 274. 



On the largest of the south islands of Arran ; Messrs. R. Sail 

 and Wm. Thompson, in 1804, the only place in Ireland where it has 

 been found. Fl. July. 11 . Stem weak, a few inches in length. 

 Leaflets elliptic-ovate, retuse, hairy. Peduncles longer than the 

 leaves, curved upwards. Heads of flowers large in proportion to the 

 plant, bluish-purple. Legumes ovate, acuminate, hairy. 



7. MELILOTUS. Tourn. Melilot. 



Legume one or few-seeded, indehiscent, longer than the calyx. 

 Petals distinct ; deciduous. Flowers racemose. Leaves ter- 

 nate. Name ; me/, honey, and Lotus, the Genus so called. 



Diadelphia. Decandria. 



1. M. officinalis, Linn. Common Yellow Melilot. Legumes 

 2-seeded, ovate, wrinkled ; racemes lax ; corolla twice as long 

 as the calyx, petals nearly equal in length ; stem erect. Trifo- 

 lium Melilotus, Linn.Br. Fl. 1. p. 327. E. FL v. in. p. 297. 

 E.Bot.t. 1340. 



Bushy places and salt marshes near Baldoyle, abundant. Fl. June, 

 July. H.. 



2. M. leucantha, Koch. White-lowered Melilot. Legumes 

 2-seeded, ovate, wrinkled ; racemes lax ; corolla twice as long as 

 the calyx ; keel and wings shorter than the standard ; stem erect. 

 De Cand. Prod. v. ii. p. 187. Tri folium officinale, (3. Linn. 

 Br. Fl 1. p. 327. 



Salt marshes near Cork ; Mr. J. Drummond. Fl. July Aug. ^ . 



