436 LEGUMINOS^ 



a long slender legume purplish red in colour; within it are a 

 number of small brown roundish-oval seeds, partially separated 

 from each other by transverse false partitions. 



Bird's-foot trefoil is a nutritious plant much liked in a young 

 state by all kinds of stock. It is not very productive, but on 

 account of its good quality and permanence is a leguminous 

 plant worthy of inclusion in permanent grass mixtures for the 

 lighter classes of soil. Unfortunately genuine seed is expensive 

 and liable to be adulterated with its allied species, Greater or 

 Marsh Bird's-foot Trefoil {Lotus uliginosus Schk. =Z. major 

 Sm.) (see p. 652), which is a native of damp meadows, and only 

 of agricultural value for use on marshy ground. 



Bird's-foot trefoil is a very variable plant in habit of growth, 

 and size of stem, leaves, and flowers : some varieties are smooth 

 while others are hairy. 



Gorse (Genus Ulex). 



22. Gorse, Furze, or Whin iJJkx europaus L.). — A perennial 

 bushy shrub growing from 2 to 5 feet high, and frequent on 

 heaths and dry commons throughout the country. 



The first foliage-leaves appearing after the cotyledons are 

 trifoliate like those of clover, but with smaller rounded leaflets. 

 On the older parts of the plant the leaves are very narrow, about 

 a quarter of an inch long, and end in short, soft spines ; in 

 their axils arise rigid furrowed branches which end in stiff" spines. 



The flower is solitary and axillary, with yellow corolla, a 

 deeply two-cleft calyx : the andrcecium is monadelphous. 



The fruit is a two-valved legume, slightly longer than the calyx, 

 and containing two or three seeds. 



A small variety of this plant, named Ulex strictus Mackay, 

 is met with in parts of Ireland; it has soft, spiny branches, 

 but does not come true from seed. 



Two other British species of Ulex are known, but they are 

 of no practical importance. 



