LEGUMINOS&. 23 
The plant can be recognised by its oblong. winged pods, paired leaflets 
‘with a long tendril, solitary flowers, and annual habit. Neither the annual 
nor the everlasting vetchlings are really good fodder plants as compared 
with peas, vetches, lucerne, and clover. Lathyrus aphaca, L., is another 
field weed in India. It is without leaflets and with seeds which are 
narcotic when ripe. 
Lotus australis, Andr., and ZL, corniculatus, L. The native and the 
introduced Bird’s-foot Trefoils. These were considered by Mueller 
(Trans. Roy, Soc., Vict., Vol. VI., p. 148) to be intensely poisonous. 
They are both, however, useful pasture plants, quite harmless, some 
varieties adapted to dry, others to moist ground. Sheep, when allowed to 
‘ gorge themselves on a luxuriant crop, may suffer in precisely the same way 
as in the case of all succulent herbage. 
R=” Lupinus albus, L. The White Lupin. This plant and also the yellow 
and blue lupins, are very valuable for green manuring and have rendered 
possible the reclamation of large tracts of sandy soil in Germany. Their 
bitter taste, however, makes them unpalatable to horses and cattle, and it 
appears that when fed off to sheep before ploughing in, frequently they 
give rise to heavy mortality. This is ascribed to the presence of a poisonous 
_ alkaloid, ‘‘ lupinotoxine,’’ occurring both in the fodder and grain. It can 
be destroyed. by steaming. It is not always present, but the conditions 
which cause its appearance are not known. 
Medicago denticulata, Willd. The Burr “ Clover.’”’ <A native of 
Europe, Asia and Africa. This plant is of some value as a fodder plant 
on waste ground and on dry hillsides, especially when young, but when 
older has a straggling character, yields but little nutritious foliage and 
is objectionable on account of its twisted spiny pods which adhere to 
the wool of sheep. This introduced plant is a common weed of pastures 
and waste places, and is sometimes troublesome in gardens. The seed 
may retain their vitality for many years, and the plant seeds freely and 
rapidly. Hence, it is difficult to suppress, except by the aid of cultivation 
and of other vegetation, when once established. 
i= Melilotus. Melilot. All the species contain Cumarin, a volatile 
odoriferous principle, which in excess produces a disinclination to locomo- 
tion, paralysis and ultimately fatal symptqms. No harm is to be 
apprehended if the amount present does not exceed 10 per cent. of the 
herbage, and the aroma of Cumarin, which is also present in the grass 
Anthoxanthum odoratum, renders stale hay more palatable. The seed of 
some species may last for 50 years. 
The Melilot, which comes most closely under the head of a weed is 
the so-called King Island Melilot, Melzlotus parviflora, which though of 
some use as a humus former on poor soils and for green manuring, is not 
a good grazing plant and is an unmitigated weed on good land, especially 
among corn. 
Swainsona. This genus of herbaceous or shrubby plants is commonly 
regarded as being a dangerously poisonous one to all kinds of stock. There 
can be no doubt, however, that most species are quite harmless or even 
useful pasture plants, especially when mixed with other herbage. 
The two species most suspected are the Darling Pea, ee" Swainsona gale- 
gifolia, R. Br., and Swainsona Greyana, Lindley, sometimes known as the 
Poison Bush, both native to Australia. The latter was regarded as deadly 
poisonous by Mueller, and it is interesting to notice that most of the supposed 
cases of poisoning occur in the dry season when stock are especially 
attracted by green and succulent foliage, and are more likely to gorge 
themselves upon a single such plant if found in fair abundance. Further, 
