Mr. C. Babington on the British Species (j/* Lotus. 261 



specific forms, namely, L. cortiiculatus, major, angustissimus, 

 and hispidus. L. tenuis of ' Eng. Bot. Suppl.^ [L. decumbens, 

 Forst.) I am induced to refer as a variety to L. corniculatus, 

 not having been able to discover any permanent characters, by 

 which it may be distinguished from that plant. The form and 

 structure of the pod appear to be amongst the most valuable 

 characters in this genus, and the direction of the calycine seg- 

 ments, more particularly in the two first species, is deserving 

 of great attention. The form of the leaves and the quantity 

 of pubescence can only be considered as distinguishing va- 

 rieties. 



The specific characters which I have given may appear 

 longer than is desirable, but I have found it impossible to 

 condense them into a shorter form without omitting some 

 characteristic points of the respective species. 1 have thought 

 it unnecessary to load this paper with synonyms, since I do 

 not believe that there is any confusion in that part of the sub- 

 ject. 



Lotus, Linn. 



1. L. corniculatus, Linn. (Sp. PI. 1092.) Vexilli ungue obovato 



transversim camerato, calycis apicibus ante anthesin conniventi- 



bus, laciniis e basi triangulari subulatis tubum suum subaequan- 



tibus et corolla multo brevioribus 2 superioribus apicibus con- 



vergentibus, leguminibus ex apice medio rostratis, capitulis 



5— 10-floris. 



a. vulgaris (Koch.) glabriusculus vel sparse pilosus, caulibus 



ascendentibus, foliolis obovatis, stipulis ovatis inaequalibus. Eng. 



Bot. t. 2090. 



/3. villosus (Ser.) caulibus foliisque villosis. L. villosus, Thuill. 

 y. crassifolius (Pers.) pilosus, caulibus humilibus stoloniferis, fo- 

 liolis obovatis crassis, stipulis ovatis inaequalibus. 



^. tenuis, glaber vel sparse pilosus, caulibus filiformibus elongatis 

 procumbentibus ascendentibusve, foliolis linearibus vel lineari-obo- 

 vatis, stipulis semi-ovatis (calycis laciniis brevibus). Eng. Bot. t. 

 2615. 



Root strong, slightly woody, perennial, in loose sandy soil, 

 stoloniferous. Stems spreading, procumbent or ascending, 

 hairy or glabrous, varying much in length, solid. Leaflets 

 obovate, in h linear or linear-obovate, glabrous or slightly hairy. 



