REST- HARROW. 249 



deep green, elliptical or ovate, somewhat cuneate at the base* 

 petiolate, rather rough with hairs, furrowed, the lower ones 

 ternate ; at the base of each petiole is seated a pair of united 

 amplexicaul stipulae. The flowers are large, axillary, soli- 

 tary, rarely twin, supported on short peduncles, and are of 

 an elegant rose colour, sometimes white. The calyx is cam- 

 panulate, hairy, deeply divided into five linear ribbed segments. 

 The corolla presents a broad striated standard, twice as large as 

 the other petals, two oblong wings, and a pointed keel. The 

 stamens are ten, with the filaments united below, the uppermost 

 separable from the rest. The germen is superior, small, ovate, 

 greenish, supporting a slender, glabrous, permanent style, 

 tipped with a simple minute stigma. The fruit is a small, oval, 

 or rhomboid, turgid legume, scarcely longer than the perma- 

 nent calyx, containing a few reniform tuberculated seeds. Plate 

 38, fig. 2, (a) calyx; (6) standard; (c) wing; (d) keel; (e) 

 stamens and pistil ; (f) pistil ; (g) fruit ; (Ji) seed, magnified. 



This plant is a native of Europe, and is frequent in this 

 country in barren fields and by way sides, either in a sandy, 

 gravelly, or calcareous soil. It flowers from June to August. 



The generic name is derived from ovo:, an ass, and ov^i, to de- 

 light, because the foliage is said to be grateful to asses. Theo- 

 phrastus* writes it gvuu$, but Dioscoridesf changes the ortho- 

 graphy to uvwnq. It has been called in Latin remora aratri, 

 resta bovis ; in French arrete-boeuf ; in English rest-harrow, 

 and by synonymous terms in other languages, in reference to 

 its strong, creeping, tangled roots, which retard the operations 

 of the ploughman. Other provincial names of this species are 

 Cammock, Petty Whin, and Ground Furze. 



There are two or three varieties of Ononis, having very dis- 

 tinct and prominent characters. At least, so they are generally 

 considered, while some botanists assign them a specific rank. 

 The unarmed Rest-harrow is procumbent, with ascending florife- 

 rous branches, and cuneate-elliptic leaves, retuse and serrulated 

 at the apex ; to this probably may be referred the O. inermis, 

 O. repens, and 0. procurrens ; while the spiny Rest-harrow (O. 

 spinosa) may be considered merely a degenerate kind, in which, 

 from sterility of soil or in consequence of age, the secondary 



* Hist. lib. vi. c. 4 et 5. 

 f Mat. Med. lib. iii. c. 21. 

 VOL. II. s 



