THE PEA FAMILY. 279 



black and yellow doc^. So completely, however, was his back and legs 

 covered with the meibomia's seeds that he looked to be a vc;^^etable dog. 

 The poor creature, never the Vere de Vere type, was thus made fairly ri- 

 diculous, but as he rolled himself over and over again in the grass to shake 

 them off, he performed very well the act of sowing the seed. 



The genus is a large one including many species, but a lack of space for- 

 bids entering many of them here. Nearly all are serviceable in making 

 domestic dyes. 



AT. itiidiflbra, naked-flowered tick-trefoil, is known by its rather small 

 flowers growing in a terminal panicle borne on a long, naked peduncle 

 which arises from the base of the plant. Its leaves at the summit of a sepa- 

 rate stem are composed of broadly oval, or ovate leaflets, glabrous or slightly 

 pubescent on both sides. The legumes are not constricted above. 



PROSTRATE TICK=TREFOIU 



Meibbmia Michauxii. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pt'ci. Picrplc. Scentless. Florida and Louisiana northward. July-September. 



Flcnvers : growing in loose terminal and axillary panicles. Calyx : five-cleft, 

 the lobes ciliate. Corolla : papilionaceous. Legume: three to five jointed, both 

 margins constricted. Leaves: three-foliate with ovate stipules, the leaflets 

 rounded, pubescent. Stem: prostrate ; pubescent or villous. 



The peculiarity most noticeable about this meibomia and the one which 

 follows is that they trail along the ground, often covering good sized areas 

 with mats of green, or brightened here and there by panicles of purple 

 flowerso Their leaves are greedily eaten by cattle, and it is possible that the 

 species possess valuable qualities as forage plants. 



M. arcnicola, sand tick-trefoil, grows from Florida not further northward 

 than Maryland and is an attractive, trailing species which bears its flowers 

 in long, terminal and axillary racemes. Its small leaflets are rounded and 

 thick, and along both margins the loment is constricted. 



M. stricta, stiff tick-trefoil, a species of the pine barrens, extending from 

 Florida and Alabama to New Jersey, belongs to the group of meibomias 

 which grow with upright stems. Its flowers are rather sparingly borne in 

 panicles with spreading branches and the leaflets are narrowly linear, 

 strongly reticulated, thick and rather blunt at the apex. From one to 

 three times the loment is jointed and concave along its back. 



M. caiiescejis, hoary tick-trefoil, also belonging to the group of upright 

 growers, may further be known by its unusually large ovate and yellowish 

 green leaflets, acute or obtuse at their apices. As are the stems and peti- 

 oles they are noticeably covered with a rough pubescence. The flowers 

 are pretty, quite large and develop loments with from three to six joints. 



