CLASS XVII. ORDER III. ] MEDICAGO. 989 
Habiiat.—Gravelly pastures in the Midland and Southern Coun- 
ties of England; Ormeshead, North Wales ; and the County of Fife , 
Scotland. 
Annual ; flowering in May and Juue. 
5. M. denticula'ta, Willd. (Fig. 1148.) Toothed Medick. Stem 
procumbent, smooth; leaflets obcordate, obtusely toothed; stipules 
oblong, cut into numerous bristle-shaped teeth; peduncles many 
flowered, as long as the leaves; legumes spirally twisted, globose, 
depressed at each end, smooth, netted with oblique and transverse 
veins, the margin three ribbed, and crowded with a double row of 
awl-shaped spines, hooked at the apex. 
English Botany, t. 2634.—Hooker, British Flora, ed. 4. vol. 1. p. 
280.—Lindley, Synopsis, Suppl. p. 823.—I/. maculata, 2 —English 
Flora, vol. iii. p. 319.—W. apiculata, Willd.—. echinata, Bouch.— 
M. distans, Poir Dict—W. flexuosa, Teu. 
Root fibrous. Stem procumbent, smooth, angular, furrowed, from 
a few inches to two feet long, branched and leafy. Leaves smooth, 
the footstalk about half an inch long, channeled, leaflets obcordate, 
sometimes rounded at the base, as well as apex, and more or less 
acutely or obtusely toothed on the margin towards the apex, dark 
green above, paler beneath, with a prominent mid-rib, terminating in 
a point, the lateral leaflets nearly sessile, the middle one on a short 
stalk. Inflorescence slender axillary peduncles, about as long as the 
leaves, bearing from two to six or more small yellow flowers, becom- 
ing longer than the leaves when in fruit. Stipules oblong, cut into 
numerous bristle-shaped teeth. lowers on a short pedicle from the 
axis of a minute lanceolate bractea. uit globose, compressed at 
each end, spirally twisted in from one to three turns, closely separated 
from each other, of a dark brownish black colour, netted over on the 
surface with oblique and transverse elevated lines, the margin with 
three elevated lines, and two rows of awl-shaped spines, spreading, 
furrowed at the base, and hooked at the apex. Seed oblong, kidney- 
shaped, yellow. 
Habitat— Exposed sandy banks on the coast of Kent; near 
Weymouth ; Cley, Norfolk. 
Annual ; flowering from April to June. 
This is much the most common species of Medicago in the middle 
and south of Europe, and is commonly grown as a spring crop, for 
cutting green for cattle, and for making into hay. Its produce seems 
to be greater in these warm countries than those.of the Zrifolium 
jiliforme. Jt is found in the North of Persia, Africa, and has been 
accidentally introduced into the tropical regions. 
6. M. min'ima, Linn. (Fig. 1149.) Little Bur-Medick. Stem erect, 
or procumbent, hairy; leaflets obovate, tovthed ; stipules ovate 
lanceolate, entire, or slightly toothed ; peduncles one to five flowered, 
