DIADELPHIA— DECANDRIA. Medicago. 3lf 



A numei'ous genus of herbaceous, rarely a little shrubby, 

 mostly procumbent, plants, with stalked, ternate leaves,- 

 stipulas unlike the leaflets; and small, clustered, or spiked, 

 axillary, yellow, rarely blueish, j^oto^r^. Legumes various, 

 very peculiar, smooth or prickly, often remarkably con- 

 voluted. 



* 1 . M. sativa. Purple Medick, or Lucerne. 

 Clusters upright. Legumes spiral. Stem erect, smooth. 



M. sativa. Linn. Sp. PL 1096. TViUd. v. 3. 1404. H. Br. 795. 



Engl. Bot V. 25. t. 1 749. Mart. Rust. t.48. Hook. Scot. 220. 

 Medica. Dad. Pempt. 576./. 

 M. n. 382. Hall. Hist. v. 1. 166. 

 M. sativa. Dalech. Hist. 502. f. 

 M. sativa, sive Tiifolium sativum, siliqua cornuta, magis tortili. 



Moris. V. 2. 158. sect. 2. t. 16./. 2. 

 M. legitima. Clus. Hist. v. 2.242. f. 

 M. major erectior, ttoribus purpurascentibus. Bauh. Hist. v. 2. 



382./. 383. 

 Trifolium Burgundiacum. Ger. Em. 1189./. 

 Foenum Burgundiacum. Lob. Ic. v. 2. 36./. 



In hedges, pastures, and the borders of fields, in dry calcareous 

 soils, but scarcely a native. 



Perennial. June, July. 



Root woody, seldom lasting long. Stems erect, or somewhat re- 

 clining, about 2 feet high, branched, leafy, roundish, smooth. 

 Leaflets oblong, inclining to wedge-shaped, more or less acute, 

 sharply serrated towards the end, clothed with close silky hairs 

 on both sides, but especially beneath. Stipulas lanceolate, or 

 half-arrow-shaped, pointed, sometimes toothed. Clusters erect, 

 of many blueish-purple^ojijers, with a small bristle-like bractea 

 under each partial stalk. Legume spiral, with rarely more than 

 2 or 3 turns, silky while young. Seeds several, flattish. 



Lucerne has often been recommended for fodder, or for hay ; its 

 qualities and mode of culture may be seen in the Flora Rustica. 

 Gerarde mentions it as increasing much in his garden. I have 

 often suspected it to be a variety of the following, originating 

 from cultivation, but they do not appear ever to run into each 

 other. 



2. M.falcata. Yellow Sickle Medick. 



Clusters upright. Legumes sickle-shaped. Stem procum- 

 bent. 



M. falcata. Linn. Sp. PI. 1096. Willd. v. 3. 1405. Ft. Br. 796. 

 Engl.Bot.v.\5.t.\Q\6. Mart. Rust. t. 86 and 87. Ft. Dan.t.233. 



Medica n . 3 8 1 . Hall. Hist. r. 1 . 1 65 . 



