LEGUMINIFERJS. Cj 



mari;;ins. Stipules free, resembling the leaflets ; peduncles axillary, 

 with umbellate heads of few or numerous flowers, whieh are gene- 

 rally yellow. The pods show an evident relation to the Coronilleaj. 



The name of this genus is vai'iously derived. Some authors say it is of Egy|>tian 

 origin, others that it is the Xwroc of Theophrastiis and Dioscorides ; the true Lotus 

 is, however, the Zizyphus Lotos. In mythology. Lotos was a nymph turned into a tree 

 to avoid the pursuit of Priapus, and it is most probable that the name was originally 

 given to a tree of large size. 



SPECIES L-LOTUS CORNICULATUS. Linn. 

 Plates CCCLXVIII. CCCLXIX. 



Rootstock short, cjBspitosely branched, emitting few or no 

 stolons. Stems decumbent, simple or branched. Peduncles three 

 to five times as long as the leaves. Heads 3- to 10-flowered. 

 Calyx-teeth nearly equal, erect in the bud ; the 2 uppermost trian- 

 gular, converging, separated by a blunt sinus, the 3 lower trian- 

 gular contracted into subulate, rather shorter than the tube. 

 Corolla twice as long as the calyx or more ; standard with the 

 claw dilated and vaulted near the middle, rather abruptly widening 

 into the lamina. Pod cylindrical, slightly depressed and not 

 beaded when ripe. 



Sub-Species I.— Lotus eu-corniculatus. 



Plate CCCLXVIIL 



L. comiculatus, Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ, et Helv. ed. ii. p. 197. Fries, Sum. Veg. Scand. 



p. 47. Gr. & Godr. Fl. de Fr. Vol. I. p. 432. 

 L. comiculatus, vars. h and c, Benth. Handbook Brit. Bot. p. 17L 

 L. comiculatus, vars. a and /3, Hooh. k Am. Brit. Fl. ed. viii. p. 106. 

 L. comiculatus, vars. a, /J, and y, Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. v. pp. 80, 81. 



Stems short, rather stout, nearly simple. Leaflets oblanceolate 

 or obovate, rather obtuse. Stipules ovate or lanceolate. Wings 

 oblong-obovate, nearly straight on the upper margin, curved on the 

 lower margin of the lamina from the middle to the apex. 



Var. a, vulgaris. 



Nearly glabrous. Leaflets thin. 



Var. 3, cramfolius. 



Sub-glabrous. Leaflets thick and fleshy. 



Var. y, villosus. 



Stem, leaves, and calyces with numerous lon^ ppronding liairf. 



VOL. III. K 



