LEGUMINIFEUiE. 29 



GENUS F77.— MELILOTUS. Toumef. 



Calyx campanulate, 5-tootlied ; teeth elongated, sub-equal, or the 

 upper one shorter. Corolla deciduous. Standard scarcely spreading, 

 equal to or longer than the wings and keel ; wings not cohering 

 at the apes, adhering to the keel above the claw. Keel obtuse ; 

 stamens diadelphous, not adhering to the petals; filaments not 

 dilated towards the apex. Style filiform, glabrous ; stigma terminal. 

 Pod stipitate, exserted, ovoid or oblong, straight, 1- to 4-seeded, 

 indehiscent. 



Herbs (generally biennial) with the leaves pinnately trifoliate ; 

 the leaflets usually finely and acutely toothed ; the stipules adnate 

 to the petioles ; flowers yellow, more rarely white, in slender 

 elongated stalked racemes. 



The name of this genus comes from the words met, honey, and lotus; meaning 

 honey-lotus. The plants are a favourite resort of bees. 



SPECIES I.— MELILOTUS OFFICINALIS. Willd. 

 Plate CCCXLI. 



Hook <fe Am. Brit. Fl. ed. viii. p. 100. Benth. Handbook Brit. Fl. p. 162. Wallrolh. 



Sched. Crit. p. 390. Fries, Sum. Veg. Scand. p. 48. 

 M. macrorrhiza, Pers. Syn. Plant. Vol. II. p. 348. Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ, et HeU 



ed. ii. p. 182. Gr. k Godr. Fl. de Fr. Vol. I. p. 402. 

 Trifolium officinale, ^»!. Eng. Bot. No. 1340. 

 T. Mflilotus officinalis, var. y, Linn. Sp. PI. ed. ii. p. 1078. 

 T. macrorrhizum, Waldst. und Kit. PI. Ear. Hung. Tab. XXVI. 



Root much thickened, and elongate. Stem erect, branched 

 throughout. Racemes elongated, dense both in flower and in fruit. 

 Corolla more than twice as long as the calyx ; standard, wings, and 

 keel, all equal in length. Pod obovate-ovoid, shortly stipitate, 

 shortly acuminate and apiculate at the apex, faintly reticulated 

 with indistinct raised veins, and with short adpressed hairs on the 

 sides. 



In bushy places, borders of fields, and by roadsides. Rather rare, 

 but pretty generally distributed in the southern part of the Island, 

 especially near the coast ; rare in Scotland, and probably introduced 

 in most of the localities : it has the appearance, however, of being 

 wdd in Haddingtonshire. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Biennial or perennial. Late 

 Summer and Autumn. 



