0073 



BEAN TREFOIL. 



Family: LEGUMINOSAE 



Reproductive system: DECANDRY, MONOGYNY 



The bean trefoil, Anagyris foetida, LINN., called the stinking wood in the south of 

 France, is a tree with a straight trunk six to nine feet high, branched and covered with 

 grayish bark. The leaves are whitish and trifoliolate with three ovate leaflets that are 

 entire and downy underneath. The stipules are opposite to the leaves. The flowers, yellow 

 in color, form pendent clusters. The calyx is cup-shaped, with five teeth. The corolla is 

 made up of a short standard and a very long carina. There are ten stamens, but they are 

 not joined by their filaments. The ovary is superior; it converts to a long flattened pod 

 containing several seeds. 



FLOWERS: in April and May. 



RANGE: southern France, close to Aries and to Nice. 



NOMENCLATURE. Anagyris, from two Greek words that denote the curvature in 

 the seed pod of this tree. German, der stinkbaum, baumbone. Danish, stanktrm. English. 

 stinking bean trefoil. Italian, legno fetide. Polish, palnik ogrodny. Hungarian, budos-fa. 



USES. The wood of the bean trefoil is heavy, yellow with a greenish tinge, but it 

 has a strong odor. This tree can be used successfully to decorate parterres in the south of 

 France. In Paris and in the north, it needs to be kept in a conservatory during winter, or, 

 as Duhamel suggests, placed on an espalier and covered with straw matting. The leaves 

 serve as resolutives [Translator 's note: agents that disperse lesions or promote their 

 resorption] and the seeds as emetics. If the tree is touched with slight pressure, it emits a 

 disagreeable odor. 



