LEGUMINIFERiB. 2] 



Sub-Tribe III.— TEIFOLIEiE. 



Stamens diadelphous, the upper one being free from the other 9. 

 Pod 1-celled, without spurious partitions. Stem generally herba- 

 ceous. Leaves trifoliate, generally with denticulate margins and 

 numerous excurrent nerves. 



GENUS FJ.— ME Die A GO. Unn. 



Calyx bell-shaped, 5-toothed ; teeth elongated, equal or the 

 upper ones shorter. Corolla deciduous. Standard scarcely spread- 

 ing, longer than the wings and keel. Wings not cohering at the 

 apex. Keel obtuse. Stamens diadelphous, not adhering to the 

 petals. Filaments not dilated towards the apex. Style glabrous, 

 with a capitate stigma. Pod exserted, reniform, sabre-shaped, 

 or (most commonly) rolled up like a compressed spiral spring,! 

 many-seeded, rarely 1-seeded, indehiscent or opening only at the 

 external suture. 



Herbs, often annual or biennial, more rarely undershrubs or 

 shrubs, with the leaves pinnately-trifoliate, with herbaceous stipules 

 adhering by their bases to the petioles. Flowers yellow, more 

 rarely purple, usually in stalked axillary heads or short racemes ; 

 more rarely the inflorescence is reduced to sub-solitary flowers. 



The name ot this genus is said to come from Medike, a name given by Dioscorides 

 to a Medean grass. 



Section I.— FALCAGO. Meieh. 



Pod many-seeded, dehiscent, sabre-shaped, or twisted into a 

 loose helix leaving an apertui'e in the centre of the coil, without 

 spines, and without a concentric extra-marginal nerve. 



SPECIES I.— ME Die AGO SATIVA. Linn. 



Plate CCCXXXIV. 

 Fries, Mant. III. p. 91. 



Kootstock woody. Stems hollow, erect, much branched; 

 branches ascending. Flowers numerous, in oblong rather loose 

 racemes ; standard streaked with violet lines. Pods downy, twisted 

 into a loose spiral of 2 or 3 turns. 



On pastures, dry banks, and borders of fields. Not uncommon 



