314 Th BRITISH HERBAL. 
By NT Ui 38 IX. 
BIRDSFOOT TREFOIL. 
G 
OU Teo” S. 
HE flower is papilionaceous. ‘The vexillum is roundifh, and bends downward; and it has a 
long, hollow bottom. The ala are fhort, broad, obtufe, and converge upwards. The cam 
rina is rounded below, clofed above, fhort, fharp-pointed, and turned upwards. The cup is formed 
of a fingle piece: it is hollow, and is divided into five regular fegments. The feed-veffel is long and 
flender, and the feeds are numerous and. roundifh. The leaves ftand three on each footftalk, as in the 
preceding genera; but there are alfo two {mall ones on the ftalk, at the infertion of the footftalk of 
the others. 
Linnaeus places this among the diadelpbia decandria ; the threads of the flower being ten, in two 
affortments. 
Dil V2 1SeleOuNe <I: 
1. Common Birdsfoot Trefoil. 
Lotus corniculata glabra minor. 
The root is long, and furnifhed with many 
fibres. : 
The ftalks are numerous, flender, firm, and 
branched: they are ufually of a redifh colour, 
and are ten inches high. 
The leaves are of a fine ftrong green: three 
ftand on a long footftalk, and two at its bafe: 
they are oblong, and fharp-pointed. 
The flowers ftand in clufters at the tops of 
flender footftalks, rifing from the bofoms of the 
leaves ; and they are fmall and yellow. 
The pods are ftrait, fender, and long. 
It is common in our paftures, and flowers in 
Augutft. 
C. Bauhine calls it Lotus pentaphylla minor gla- 
bra. : 
2. Narrow-leaved Birdsfoot Trefoil. 
Lotus corniculata anguftifolia glabra. 
The root is long and flender. 
The ftalks are numerous, and very much 
. branched: they are firm, upright, and fix inches 
high. 
The leaves ftand three on a footftalk, and two 
at the bafe of it: they are narrow, of a frefh 
green, and fharp-pointed. 
The flowers are fmall and yellow: they ftand, 
as in the other, on long footftalks, fix or eight 
- together. 
The feed-veffels are long, 
brown. 
The plant diftinguifhes itfelf at firft fight 
from the common kind by its upright, bufhy 
afpedt. 
We have it in corn-fields, where the foil is 
_ clayifh. Ie flowers in Auguft. 
Ray calls it Lotus pentaphyllos minor anguftio- 
vibus foliis fruticofior. 
flender, and 
D bv Bs OaNedl «<F-o 
1. Square-podded Lotus. 
Lotus filiqua quadrata flore rubro. 
The root is long, and furnifhed with many 
fibres. 
BoR TCT. Sei gS Reb. Takis: 
g. Great Birdsfoot Trefoil. 
Lotus corniculata birfuta major. 
The root iscompofed of numerous, flender fibres, 
The ftalks are weak, of a pale colour, a little 
hairy, not much branched, and a foot or more 
in height. 
The leaves are numerous and large: three ftand 
on each footftalk, and two at its bafe: they are 
oblong, broad, of a pale green, and lightly hairy, 
The flowers are large and yellow, with a tinge 
of orange-colour : they ftand in little tufts at the 
tops of the pedicles, which rife from the bofom 
of the leaves. 
The feed-veffel is long, flender, and brown. 
It is frequent in damp places, and flowers in 
Augutt. 
C. Bauhine calls it Lotus pentaphyllos flore ma- 
jore luteo fplendente. Others, Lotus corniculata . 
hirfuta major. 
The leaves of this plant are fometimes very 
little hairy, and of a brighter green. In this ftate 
it is defcribed in Dillenius’s edition of the Sy- 
nopfis as a new fpecies ; but it is a Variety owing 
only to its growing on a drier foil. 
4, Dwarf Birdsfoot Trefoil. 
Lotus corniculata minima foliis fubtus birfutis. - 
The root is compofed of a few flender threads, 
The ftalks are numerous, weak, and procum- 
bent: they are of a redifh colour, and three or 
four inches long. : 
The leaves ftand three on a footftalk, and two 
at its bafe: they are fhort, roundifh, but termi- 
nated by a point; and of a blackith green above, 
and white and hairy underneath, 
The flowers are fmall and yellow: 
very flender and brown, 
We have it in dry, hilly paftures, efpecially 
where the foil is chalky. It flowers in July. 
Ray calls it Lotus corniculata minor foliis fubtus 
the pods are 
“incanis, 
REIGN SPECIES. 
The ftalks are numerous and weak : they 
fpread every way upon the ground; and are 
branched, and of a pale green, a little hairy, 
and a foot and half long. : 
The flowers are placed at diftances : three grow 
upon 
