94 LEGfUMINOS^S. [TRIGONELLA. 



5. TRIGONEL'LA, L. FENUGREEK. 



Herbs, often strongly scented. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate ; nerves 

 terminating in teeth ; stipules adnate to the petiole. Flowers solitary, 

 capitate, or in dense racemes, white, yellow, or blue. Calyx tubular, teeth 

 subequal. Petals very persistent ; wings longer than the keel, the claws 

 of both free from the staminal tube. Filaments not dilated, upper distinct 

 or nearly so ; anthers uniform. Style glabrous, stigma terminal ; ovules 

 many. Pod various in form, dehiscent in the British species, longer than 

 the calyx. DISTRIB. Europe, temp. Asia, N. and S. Africa, Australia ; 

 species 50. ETYM. The old Greek name. 



T. ornithopodioi'des, DC. ; glabrous, prostrate, very slender, leaflets 

 obcordate, keel nearly as long as the wings. Trifolium, L. Falcatula, 

 Brot. Aporan'thus Trif olios' trum, Bromfield. 



Sandy heaths and gravelly places, local, from Fife and Renfrew southd. ; E. 

 Ireland, very rare ; Channel Islands ; fl. June- Aug. Annual or biennial, 

 branching from the base; branches 2-8 in., slender. Leaflets - in., 

 toothed, strongly nerved ; petiole |-1 in. ; stipules large, ovate, long- 

 acuminate. Peduncles solitary, shorter than the petioles, axillary, 1-3- 

 flowered. Flowers % in. , very shortly pedicelled, white and pink. Pod J-| 

 in., linear-oblong, slightly curved, obtuse, partially dehiscent, 6-8-seeded. 

 DISTRIB. "W. Europe from Denmark to Portugal and Italy. An anomalous 

 species, on account of the length of the keel ; habit of Trifolium sui- 

 ter raneum. 



6. MEDICA'GO, L. MEDICK. 



Herbs. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate, nerves ending in teeth ; stipules 

 adnate to the petiole. Flowers small, yellow or violet, honeyed ; bracts 

 small or 0. Calyx-teeth 5, nearly equal. Keel obtuse, shorter than the 

 oblong .wings, not adnate to the stamens, spreading and exposing the 

 anthers. Filaments not dilated, upper distinct ; anthers uniform. Style 

 subulate, glabrous, stigma subcapitate ; ovules few or many. Pod spirally 

 curved or coiled, very rarely falcate, often spiny, rarely dehiscent, 1 -more- 

 seeded. DISTRIB. Europe, W. Asia, IS". Africa ; species 40. ETYM. The 

 Greek name. 



* Perennial. Pod dehiscent, falcate, annular, or coiled into an open helix, 

 smooth, many-seeded ; marginal nerve 0. 



1. M. falca'ta, L. ; erect or decumbent, pod linear compressed falcate 



or annular downy. 



Gravel banks and waste sandy places in the E. counties; fl. June-July. Stems 

 6-24 in., diffuse. Leaflets J-* in., narrowly linear, or obovate oblong, toothed, 

 notched and mucronate at the tip ; stipules large, subulate. Flowers fin., 

 shortly pedicelled, in contracted racemes. Pod \ in. DISTRIB. Europe, 

 N. Asia, India. 



M. sylves'tris, Fries ; with flowers yellow then dark green, and pod semicircular 

 or annular, is probably a hybrid, Nyman. E. counties. 



