98 



XXVI. LEGUMINOS^ : TRIFOLIE^. \_Medic 



^go. 



or spirally twisted. — Leaves trifoliolate, — ISTame ; the fx'i]^LKn of 

 the Greeks, so called because it was introduced into Greece bv 



the Medes. 



1. M 



* 



ent 



falcdta L. (yellow Sickle M.) ; stem decumbv. 

 slightly hairy, leaflets obovate-oblong toothed, peduncles ra! 

 celned, racemes many-flowered subcorymbose, pedicels usually 

 longer than the bracteas, legume compressed downy falcate or 

 with one spire. E. B,t. 1016. M. sylvestris Fries^ Bab. 



Dry gravelly banks and old walls, chiefly in Norfolk, Suffolk, and 

 Cambridgeshire; rare. %. 6, 7. — Flowers usually yellow,^ some- 

 times violet. Mr. Babington distinguishes his M. sylvestris by the 

 legume *'of one flat turn annular," while in M. falcata it is said to be 

 "straightly sickle-shaped not annular." 



2. M. '^saliva L. {purple ikT., or Lucerne)^ stem usually erect 

 leaflets oboyate-oblong toothed, peduncles many-flowered ra- 

 cemed, pedicels usually shorter than the bracteas, legumes 

 compressed downy twisted 2 — 3 times in a loose spire. E B 

 t. 1749. 



m 



Hedges^ pastures, and borders of fields, not wild. %, 6, 7. This 



has purple, or sometimes yellow flowers, and a spirally twisted vody 

 and bears a great resemblance to the preceding, of which it has been 

 suspected to be only a cultivated state. In habit they both vary 

 much, but still differ remarkably from all the following, 



r 



3. M. lupulina L, {black M., or Nonsuch) ; leaflets obovate- 

 cuneate, stipules nearly entire, peduncles many-flowered, spikes 

 dense oval, legumes compressed unarmed kidney-shaped. 

 t. 971. 



KB. 



Abundant, in waste and cultivated grounds. 0. 5 — 8. — A valu- 

 able plant in agriculture, very similar in habit to T r if olium Jili forme. 

 Stems procumbent or ascending, In this andali the following. Flowen 

 crowded, small, yellow. Legumes small, 1-seeded, rugged with longi- 

 tudinal prominent veins, of a black colour when ripe. 



4. 



'dM,) 



toothed, peduncles few-flowered, legumes compactly spiral com- 

 pressed, the spires furrowed at the edge and fringed with a 

 double row of long spreading curved prickles. M. polymorpha 

 E. B. t. 1616. 



Gravelly pastures in the middle and south of England. Ormes- 

 head, North Wales. ©. 5 — 8. — Leaflets marked with a purple spot 

 in the centre. Legume with only 2 — 3 spires, the edge thick with 4 

 ridcres and a central furrow. 



M. 



) 



stipules nearly entire, peduncles few-flowered, legumes com- 

 pactly spiral subglobose, the spires (about 4) narrow keeled at 



2. 



Han 



I 



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