7() ENGLISH BOTANY. 



by roadsides. Not very common, and principally confined to the 

 South and East of the island ; extending from Cornwall and Devon 

 along the South coast to Kent, and thence northward to Aberdeen, 

 Moray, and lloss. On the West coast it occurs wild in North 

 AVales, the basin of the Mersey, and Kirkcudbrightshire. 



England, Scotland. Perennial. Summer and Autumn. 



Stems few, nearly simple, flexuous, 1 to 3 feet long, generally 

 trailing. Leaves 4 to 8 inches long ; leaflets f to 1^ inch long, 

 obtuse or slightly acute at the apex, glabrous above, apparently so 

 l)eneath, but when examined under a lens they will be found to 

 be clothed with distant extremely short white hairs. Lower stipules 

 ovate, auriculate ; upper ones lanceolate, not united to each other. 

 Elowers very numerous, ^ inch long, cream-coloured. Pods 1 to 

 1^ inch long, crescent-shaped, pale-olive when ripe, with the surface 

 finely reticulated and clothed with short distant hairs invisible to 

 the naked eye. Plant pea-green. Leaflets very thin and glaucous 

 beneath ; the leaves, as remarked by Dr. Bromfield, resembling 

 those of Robinia Pseud-acacia, the tree commonly cultivated in 

 gardens under the name of Acacia or Locust-tree. 



Sweet Milk- Vetch, Liquorice Vetch. 



French, Astragale Reglisse. German, Susshohhlaitrige BdrenschoH. 



This plant is sometimes called Ladies'-fingers or Crow-toes, from its fancied resem- 

 lil.mce to the fingers of an open hand. The English name of Milk-Vetch is derived 

 from its supposed quality of increasing the quantity of milk in cows fed on it. We 

 find Gerarde, after enumerating the virtues of the plant in healing diseases, says : " It 

 likewise procureth great store of milke in cattell that do eat thereof, whence it took 

 his name." He adds : " It stoppeth bleeding, but is with much ado beaten, by reason of 

 his hardnesse." 



It grows on the poorest soils, even on obdurate clays, where scarcely any other 

 ))lant will vegetate. It will grow as tall as clover, and makes very good hay, though 

 scarcely attaining perfection for the first few years. When fully established, it pro- 

 duces a large supply of fodder, and is very desirable for poor lands ; but after being once 

 cut advances very slowly ; hence its inferiority to clover as a fodder-plant. 



Tribe II.— HEDYS AREiE. 



Stamens diadelphous, the uppermost free from the other 9. 

 Pod divided by transverse partitions into 1-seeded portions, which 

 most frequently separate from each other ; more rarely reduced 

 to one of these portions. Cotyledons changing into green leaves 

 during germination. Stem not climbing or twining. Leaves 

 pinnate or pinnately-trifoliate, with a terminal leaflet. Leaflets 

 sometimes with stipels. 



