TRIFOLIUM. 



I finger's length, or more, diffiife, villous. Leaflets villous, 

 hoary, lanceolate-wedge-diaped, ftriated with veins. Sti- 



\ pulas lanceolate-pointed, membranous, ribbed. One of the 

 beads ilalked, the other feflile. IVUU. 



6g. T. phleoides. Cat's-tail Trefoil. Willd. n. 59 



" Heads oblong. Calyx hairy ; its teeth lanceolate-awl- 

 fhaped, unequal, rigid, fpreading. Leaflets oblong, emar- 

 ginate, nearly entire ; the floral ones linear." — Sent from 

 Spain by Pourret. Annual. Stems nearly fimple, about 

 fix inches long. Leajlets tapering at the bafe, clothed, like 

 the ftem, with clofe-preffed hairs : thofe of tlie floral leaves 

 very narrow and entire. Stipulas lanceolate. Spikes nearly 

 feffile, not unlike thofe of a Phleum. Lowed tooth of the 

 £alyx longeft. Willd. 



70. T. alexandrhium. Egyptian Trefoil. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 1085. Amoen. Acad. v. 4. 286. Willd. n. 60. Ait. 

 n. 45. Forflv. ^gypt.-Arab. 139. — Heads ovate, on axil- 

 lary ilalks, longer than the leaves. Calyx hairy ; teeth awl- 

 fliaped, unequal. Stem ereft. Floral leaves oppofite. 



Leaflets elliptic-lanceolate, with fhallow teeth Native of 



Egypt. The root is annual. Stem a foot or more in height, 

 naked in the lower half, round, ftriated, fmooth. Leaflets 

 uniform, an inch or inch and half long, fomewhat downy, 

 about the length of the common Jlalks. Stipulas oblong, 

 veiny, with green leafy awl-fliaped points, of their own 

 length. The loweft leaves only are oppofite, one of them 

 embracing the jloiuer-jlalh, the other the mainj?fm, which 

 rifes fome inches above it^ bearing many alternate leaves, and 

 perhaps more flowers. Heads fohtary, near an inch long. 

 Corolla monopetalous, white ; Jlandard linear, obtufe, 

 longer than the wings, which are marked by a fmall promi- 

 nent callofity at their bafe. Stigma downy towards the 

 ftandard. 



Forlkall fays, this is the Trefoil univerfally cultivated in 

 Egypt, being the beft, and indeed the principal fodder for 

 cattle in that country. It is fown only at the recefs of the 

 Nile ; and where the fields are too high to be inundated by 

 that river, they are watered by means of hydraulic engines, 

 the feeds being committed to the eaith while it is wet. The 

 produce is thi-ee feparate crops, the plants growing each 

 time about half an ell in height, and there are three months 

 between each harveil. After the laft they die. The firft 

 crop is the befl;. When the Trefoil is wanted for feed, it is 

 fown along with the wheat. Both are gathered at once, 

 by the hand, not reaped or mown, and are threfhed out 

 together, the Trefoil feed being afterwards feparated by a 

 fieve. Our Britifh agriculturifts do not appear to know 

 any thing of this fpecies of Clover, which being fo import- 

 ant in its own country, might be worth trying, at leaft, in 

 this. We beg leave to recommend it to their notice. The 

 plant was introduced at Kew, in 1798, by Mr. Hunnemann, 

 and we truft its progeny has been continued. For the oc- 

 cupiers of low oozy lands in the fens it promifes moft be- 

 nefit, provided the Egyptian mode of culture be the moft 

 ehgible. 



71. T./uJbcatum. Sufi'ocated Trefoil. Linn. Mant. 276. 

 Willd. n. 61. Fl. Brit. n. 13. Engl. Bot. t. 1049. Tr. 

 of Linn. Soc. v. z. 357. Jacq. Hort. Vind. v. i. 24. 



t. 60 Heads feffile, lateral, roundifh, nearly fmooth. 



Calyx-teeth lanceolate, acute, recurved, longer than the 



corolla Found in the loofe blowing fand of the fea-coafts 



of Sicily and England, flowering in June and July. Mr. 

 Wigg firft difcovered and afcertained it near Yai mouth. 

 Others have met with the plant, along the coaft, from that 

 place to Landguard fort. This httle annual fp'civs is more 

 truly fubterraneous than our n. 29, the Jlems j.::d powers 

 being often buried entirely in dry fand, the leaves only 



peeping above the furface, fo that the fpecies might well 

 remain in obfcurity. In fmoothnefs and general habit it 

 comes fo near to glomeratum, n. 65, that we have fometime* 

 doubted its being more than a variety, caufed by peculiarity 

 of fituation. But the calyx-teeth are lanceolate, by no means 

 heart-fhaped, and extend confiderably beyond the corolla, 

 which is clofed fo as to proteA the organs of impregnation, 

 which perform their funftions under the dry fand. To pro- 

 vide againft accident, each legume has two feeds, both which 

 are often pcrfefted. The petals, naturally rofe-coloured, 

 are rendered whitifli by the cxclufion of light. Tiie Jlipulat 

 are broad. Leajlets wedge-ftiaped, finely toothed, fmooth. 



72. T. uniflorum. Dwarf White Trefoil. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 1085. Amoen. Acad. v. 4. 285. Willd. n. 62. Sm. 

 Fl. Graec. Sibth. t. 752, unpubl. (T. vernum repens, 

 flore albo exiguo ; Buxb. Cent. 3. 18. t. 31. f. 2. Meli- 

 lotus cretica humillima humifufa, flore albo magno ; Tourn. 

 Cor. 28. Spica trifoha ; Alpin. Exot. 169. t. 168.) — 

 Stems much ftiorter than the footftalks, deprefied. Stalks 

 fingle-flowered, aggregate, fliorter than the points of the 

 ftipulas. Tube of the calyx longer than its awl-fliaped 

 teeth — Native of Syria, Arabia, and the neighbourhood of 

 Conftantinople. Dr. Sibthorp obferved it on the loftieft 

 mountains of Crete, as well as in Lemnos, Greece, and Afia 

 Minor. The root is perennial. Stems feveral, moft hke 

 thofe of T. ciefpilofum, n. 21, in their deprefted poGtion, 

 but ftill fhorter, clofely invefted with fheathing membranous 



Jlipidas, whofe long, green, awl-fliaped points extend be- 

 yond the axillary Jlower-Jlalks. The latter, a quarter or 

 half an inch long, grow ufually three together, from one 

 common bafe, attended by very minute braBeas, each of 

 them bearing a large white Jloiuer, full an inch long, whofe 

 calyx is tubular, ten-ribbed, nearly fmooth, with rather un- 

 equal hairy teeth, half the length of the tube, having curved 

 points. Standard broadifti, ereft, emarginate, longer than 

 the nvings or keel. Footjlalls twice as long as the Jloivers, 

 meafuring full two inches, flightly hairy. Leajlets broadly 

 obovatc, fmoothiih, ftrongly ribbed, with fine, fliarp, partly 

 hooked, marginal teeth. It is very probable this fpecies 

 may have feveral feeds in each legume, and may belong to 

 the fecond feftion. This point we want materials to de- 

 termine. 



Seft. 4. Vesicaria. Calyx injlated, fivelling after 



flowering. 



73. T. fpumofum. Bladdery Trefoil. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 Io8j. Willd. n. 63. Ait. n. 47. Sm. Fl. Gra:c. Sibth. 

 t. 753, unpubl. (T. caule nudo, glomeruhs glabris, &c. ; 

 Bauh. Hift. V. 2. 379, bad.) — Heads ovate. Calyx of the 

 fruit ovate, tumid, fmooth, with briftle-ftiaped recurved 

 teeth. Brafteas membranous, lanceolate. Stem ;uid 



branches erefi Native of Languedoc, Italy, and Cyprus, 



in cultivated fields. Root annual. Stems numerous, fjjread- 

 ing, a fpan high, leafy, branched, fmooth like the whole 

 plant, which has the general afpcd of our com.mon purple 

 Clover, though totally difi"erent when examined. Footjlalks 

 from two to four inches long. L ajlds obovatc, llriated, 

 toothed, marked with white. Stipulas pale, membranous, 

 ovate, taper-pointed, entire. hmds iolitary, terminal, 

 ovate or roundifli. Corolla long and flender, crimfon, with 

 a white tube ; Jlandard ovato-lariccolale, ereft, entire. 

 Calyx tubular, membranous, fir fli-ccloured, very fmooth, 

 with five nearly equal, green, fltnder, fpreading teeth, one- 

 third the length of the ti.be. As ihc fruit advaixts, the 

 tube becomes inflated, obliquely elliptical, with many red 

 ribs, conneftcd by fine reticulations ; the teeth r.nthcr un- 

 equal, and recurved ; the corolla remaining dry and hard- 

 ened in the mouth of the calyx, and invefting the legume, 



which 



