PAPILIONACE:.!:. 171 



and pointed, but sometimes narrow ; those which take the place of stipules 

 broader than the others. Peduncles much longer than the leaves. Um- 

 bels of fi'om 5 or 6 to twice that number of bright yeUow flowers ; the 

 standard often red on the outside. Calyx-teeth about the length of the 

 tube. Pod usually about an inch long. Seeds globular, separated by a 

 pithy substance, wliich nearly fiUs the pod. 



In meadows and pastures, whetlier wet or dry, open or shaded, widely 

 spread over Europe, Russian and central Asia, the East Indian Peninsula, 

 and Austraha, but not reaching the Arctic Circle. Abundant all ovjr 

 Britain. Fl. the whole summer. It is a very variable species, accommo- 

 dating itself to very different stations and climates ; and some of the races 

 appear so permanent in certain locahties as to have been generally admitted 

 as species, but in others they run so much into one another as to be abso- 

 lutely undistinguishable. The most distinct British forms are — 



a. Greater Lotus {L. major, Eng. Bot. t. 2091). Tall, ascending or 

 nearly erect, glabrous or slightly hauy, and luxuriant in all its parts, with 

 6 to 12 flowers in the umbel. Calyx-teeth usually, but not always, finer 

 and more spreading than in the smaller forms. In moist meadows, along 

 ditches, under hedges, and in rich, bushy places. 



b. Common Lotus. Low and spreading, often tufted at the base, glabrous 

 or nearly so, usually with 5 or 6 rather large flowers to the umbel. Leaflets 

 broad, and often glaucous, especially near the sea, where they become much 

 thicker. In open pastures and on dry sunny banks. 



c. Hairy Lotus. Like the common variety, but covered with long 

 spreadmg hairs. In dry, sunny situations, common in southern Europe, 

 but rare in Britain. 



d. Narrow Lotus {L. tenuis, 'En^.'Boi.BvLp^X. %. 2,Q\b). Slender and more 

 branched than the common form, with very narrow leaflets. In poor pas- 

 tures and grassy places, chiefly in south-eastern Europe. Bare in Britain, 

 and always running much into the common form. 



2. Slender Lotus. Ijotus angustissimus, Linn, 

 (i. diffusus, Eng. Bot. t. 925.) 



An annual, more slender and branched than the common L., always hairy, 

 and with smaller leaflets. Peduncles short, the flowers scarcely above half 

 the size of those of the common L., often solitary or 2 together, very seldom 3 

 or even 4 in the umbel. Calyx-teeth longer than the tube. Pod slender, 8 or 

 9 lines long. 



In meadows, pastures, and fields, very common in southern Europe, ex- 

 tending eastward in southern Russia to the Altai, and northward along the 

 coasts of western Europe to the Channel. In Britain, only on the south 

 coasts of Ireland and England, extending eastward to Hastings. Fl. early 

 summer, and often again in autumn. The hispid L. {L. hispidus, Eng. Bot. 

 Suppl. t. 2823) is a larger, more haii-y variety, having often 3 flowers to the 

 umbel, with a thicker' pod, often less than 6 lines long. It has the same 

 range as the more slender variety. 



X. ANTHVLLIS. ANTHTLLIS. 



Herbs, with pinnate leaves, and yellow, red, or purple flowers in crowded 

 heads or umbels, with a deeply divided bract close underneath. Calyx in- 



