p 



MEDICAGO FALCATA, A YELLOW-FLOWERED ALFALFA. 9 



to collectors, early in the history of modern botany. The reference 

 cited by Kaspar Bauhin (8) and by subsequent botanists as the 

 earliest mention of the species is made by Bock (10), who desig- 

 nates his plant as Melilotus majoris species tertia and describes it in 

 such a way as to leave a reasonable doubt as to whether it is really 

 Medicago falcata or some other species, possiblj'^ Medicago arhorea 

 L. In 1561 Gesner {21^) published a brief description of it under 

 the name Trifolii genus medica similis, mentioning the fact that it 

 has yellow flowers and only slightly coiled pods. This reference 

 may. with a reasonable degree of certainty, be regarded as the first 

 positive mention of Medicago falcata in literature, since the identity ■ 

 of Bock's plant is somewhat in doubt. It is true that Kaspar Bauhin 

 (8) cited Trifolii genus medica similis as a synonym of both Medi- 

 cago falcata and Medicago lupulina L., but Gesner's description pre- 

 cludes the possibility of his having the latter species in mind. 



By far the best of the early descriptions of Medicago falcata is 

 furnished by Clusius {3S)^ appearing in 1583. The name Medica 

 luteo fore, which he applied, is, in a true sense, a descriptive one, 

 and the description accompanying it treats in considerable detail of 

 the diagnostic characters of the species. Furthermore, a good illus- 

 tration of the plant, apparently the first one ever published, appears 

 with the description (fig. 2). 



Tabernsemontanus {58) describes and figures Medicago falcata 

 as Lens major repens. The description is not convincing, but the 

 figure leaves no doubt as to the identity of the plant. The generic 

 name " Lens " was applied by Tabernsemontanus to various species of , 

 Leguminosse without regard to their relationship. 



The name finally chosen by Kaspar Bauhin for the species was 

 Trifolium sylvestre luteum siliqua comuta or Medica frutescens. 

 This designation was published in 1623 {8). 



It was about the time of Johann and Kaspar Bauhin, when the 

 species became the subject of more general study and discussion, 

 that mention of forms that are now known to have been hybrids 

 begun to appear in such a manner as to confuse the nomenclature 

 somewhat. It is evident from their writings on Medicago falcata 

 that both of the Baiiliins fell into errors through their failure to 

 recognize the hybrid nature of the plants which they described. 



The name falcata was first used in connection with Medicago fal- 

 cata by Riviniis in 1600 (W). ITe used it in a generic sense, divid- 

 ing what was formerly known as Medica into two groups (Falcata 

 and Cwhleata), the distinguishing characters being the degree of 

 twist or coil of the pod. Medicago falcata fell in the fn-st division 

 and was designated simply as Falcata. Together with the name, 

 Rivinus published an excellent illustration, which is the first unmis- 

 takable figure of a Medicago sativa X falcata hybrid. Rivinus's 



