20 LeguminOSCB. \Parochetus. 



An erect annual herb, 1-2 ft., stem slightly branched, 

 striate, glabrous; 1. 3- or 5-foliolate, petiole short, ^-f in., 

 glabrous, stip. very small, linear, lflts. 1-1J in., subsessile, 

 oblong-linear, tapering to base, obtuse, thin, glabrous, paler 

 beneath; fl. moderate-sized, on erect slender ped., arranged in 

 very lax terminal racemes of variable length, bracts small, 

 lanceolate, acuminate; cal. glabrous, segm. narrowly triangular, 

 acute; pet. not exserted, about twice as long as cal.; pod 

 about 2 in., spreading, oblong-ovoid, tapering into short stalk, 

 tipped with nearly straight style-base, glabrous, veiny ; seeds 

 25 or more. 



Dry region, in swampy places ; rare. Bintenne ; Chilaw ; near 

 Jaffna. Fl. Jan., Feb.; yellow. 



Also in India, Burma, Malaya, and the Philippines. 



4. PAROCHETUS, Ham. 

 A prostrate, creeping herb, 1. 3-foliolate, fl. solitary, 

 axillary; cal .-tube campanulate, upper segm. connate; wing 

 and keel-pet. equal, shorter than standard ; stam. diadelphous, 

 anth. uniform; ov. sessile, style glabrous, stigma terminal; 

 pod straight, many-seeded. — Monotypic. 



P. communis, Hamilt. 171 Don Prod. Fl. Nep. 240 (1825). 



Thw. Enum. 82. C. P. 2409. 



Fl. B. Ind. ii. 86. Wight, Ic. t. 483 (P. major). 



A creeping herb, stem very long, prostrate, slender and 

 thread-like, slightly branched, glabrous or nearly so, rooting 

 at the distant nodes; 1. distant, 3-foliolate, petiole erect, 3-6 

 in. long, very slender, with scattered hairs, stip. ovate, . acute, 

 membranous, lflts. \- f in., very shortly stalked, broadly 

 obovate, cuneate at base, truncate and emarginate at apex, 

 thin, glabrous above, slightly hairy and paler beneath ; fl. 

 solitary, § in., peduncle axillary, about as long as petiole or 

 longer, erect, slender, jointed about f in. below the fl.; cal. \ in., 

 slightly hairy, segm. acuminate ; pod f in., oblong-linear, 

 tapering to apex, compressed, glabrous, dark brown ; seeds 

 about 15, dull, dark brown. 



Montane zone, from 4000 ft. upwards, common in wet places. 

 Fl. Jan., Feb. ; violet-blue. 



Also in mountains of India, Burma, Java, and E. Trop. Africa. 

 A very pretty little plant ; the leaves are remarkably like those of an 

 Oxalis. The only native Trefoil. 



Trifolium repens, L., the common white or Dutch clover, is completely 

 established on roadsides about Nuwara Eliya ; and T. minus, Sm., the 

 small yellow Trefoil, and T. arvense, L., the Haresfoot Trefoil, also occur. 

 No doubt all were introduced with grass seed. 



