LEGUMINIFERiE. 35 



inch long, brown when ripe, straiglit on the upper suture, gently 

 curved on the lower, truncatc-roundod at the apex, with an apiculus 

 at the extremity of the upper suture, dehiscing' I'or the greater part 

 of its length. Seeds smooth, ovoid-compressed, reddish-brown, or 

 pale olive with dark elongated blotches. Plant greyish-green, 

 glabrous, with sometimes a few hairs on the calyces. 



This plant bears no resemblance to any British species, except 

 Trifolium subtervaneum, but it may be readily distinguished from 

 that plant by being smaller, glabrous, with the petals free, inclining 

 to flesh-colour instead of straw-colour ; by the absence of barren 

 calyces when in fruit, and by the long, exserted, many-seeded pod. 



T. ornithopodioides accords ill with the other species of the genus 

 Trigonella, which have the keel so minute that the flowers appear, 

 on a cursory examination, to have only 3 petals ; but it agrees still 

 worse with the genus Trifolium, from which it is separated by its 

 fi'ee petals, caducous corolla, and much exserted dehiscent many- 

 seeded pod. From Medicago, in which Fries places it, by its less 

 compressed and nearly straight pod, and the less compressed seeds 

 not unequal at the hilum. Probably it ought to be placed in a 

 genus by itself, as proposed by the late Dr. Bromfield. 



Birds' loot, Fenugreek. 



French, Trigonelle Pied (TOiseau. 



This species is placed in the same genus as the Trigonella Fcenum grcecum, the 

 Common Fenugreek, which was formerly cultivated by the Romans, and is still employed 

 in the agriculture of the South of Europe. The seeds have a medical reputation not as 

 given internally, but as poultices, fomentations, and emollient applications. An old 

 remedy in the Pharmacoposia oleum e mucilaginibus contained these seeds, but they are 

 now no longer used except by gi'ooms and farriers in veterinary medicine. 



GENUS IX.— a RIFOLIUM. Linn. 



Calyx bell-shaped or tubular, 5-toothed ; teeth elongate, gene- 

 rally unequal. Corolla persistent and withering, sometimes 

 retaining its form but becoming scarious after flowering; more 

 rarely deciduous ; petals usually united ; standard scarcely spread- 

 ing, equalling or exceeding the wings and keel ; wings free at 

 the apex, often diverging ; keel obtuse. Stamens diadelphous, 

 more or less adhering to the petals ; filaments slightly thickeued 

 towards the apex. Style filiform, glabrous. Stigma terminal, 

 capitate. Pod short, sessile and included in the tube of the calyx, 

 or stipitate and slightly exserted, ovoid, not compressed, 1- to 4- 

 seeded, often indehiscent. 



Herbs with the leaves digitately-trifoliate (rarely pinnately- 

 trifoliate), the leaflets often toothed, and the stipules adnate. 



