CLASS XVII. ORDER IIL. | ONOBRYCHIS. 991 
lobed.—Name from ovos, an ass; and Pevxw, to eat; so called 
on account of the plant forming a valuable fodder. 
1. O. sati'va, Lam. (Fig. 1150) Common Saintfoin, Cock’s-head. 
Stem ascending; leaves pinnated, nearly smooth ; wings of the 
corolla not longer than the calyx; legume semi-orbicular, the keel 
toothed, as well.as the netted elevated lines on the sides. 
Hooker, British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p 274.—Lindley, Synopsis, p. 
88.—Hedysarum Onobrychis, Linn.—English Botany, t. 96—English 
Flora, vol. iii. p. 292. 
Root somewhat woody, fibrous. Stems several, ascending, round, 
smooth, striated, hollow, leafy, slightly branched, from two to three 
feet long. Zeaves pinnate, four to six inches long, the common foot- 
stalk striated, and channeled above, bearing numerous pairs of elliptic 
oblong leaflets, each on a short slender footstalk, the mid-rib pro- 
minent, terminating in a short point. Stipules membranous, ovate, 
lanceolate, entire. Inflorescence an elongated racemose spike of 
numerous crowded flowers, elevated on an axillary peduncle, round, 
striated, hollow, longer than the leaves. lowers a deep vose colour, 
variegated, each elevated on a short pedicle, from the axis of an awl- 
shaped bractea, downy, as well as the campanulate calyz, five ribbed, 
and with five awl-shaped teeth, longer than the tube of the calyx. 
Corolla with remarkable short wings, not longer than the calyx, the 
vexillum rather longer than the obliquely truncated keel, erect, and 
somewhat reflexed. Legume small, semi-orbicular, single seeded, 
hard, with a keeled margin, which is sharply toothed, the side 
netted with elevated lines, and also more or less furnished with teeth. 
Habitat—Dry sunny pastures and waste places in a calearious 
soil in various parts of England. 
Perennial ; flowering in June and July. 
Saintfoin is one of the artificial grasses, so called by its Frenchname 
from its having been brought into notice as an agricultural plant, by 
seeds brought from France. It is a highly nutritive food for cattle, 
either when used in a green state, or dried and made into hay. 
According to the analysis of Sir H. Davy, it contains as much nutri- 
ment as the Clovers, and it is on account of its long descending roots 
well suited for dry chalky or gravelly districts, where the red and 
white Clovers endure for a very short period. The usual endurance 
of Saintfoin for profitable cultivation is from eight to ten years, and 
during this period even in very poor soils the surface becomes clothed 
with various grasses, thus rendering a longer continuance of it less 
necessary. The advantages of Saintfoin in dry stony lands are its 
patient endurance of long droughts, and that it is equally useful for 
grazing or mowing: when it is used for grazing, and especially for 
sheep it requires no top dressing of manure; but if it is mown, it 
is then needful to give it a dressing of well decayed stable manure or 
ashes. 
