LOTUS. 



I icwlly applied, and of which perhaps more has been written, 

 than of any other plant. Thofe who have fought for its 

 origin in the Greek language, have found nothing nearer 

 than ^a>, to ivUl or defire, alluding, as they fuppofe, to the 

 plant being greatly efteemed. Others have thought, with 

 more probability, that Xarro; of the Greeks, and Lotas of 

 the Latins, had one common Egyptian origin, its etymo- 

 logy being therefore, of courfe, infcrutable to us. All that 

 can be faid of the application of this name, at various times, 

 and in various languages and nations, is, that it has always 

 been ufed for fome plant eminently ufeful as food, for man 

 or bead. Thus it has been appropriated to the Kvamo;, or 

 Sacred Bean of India (fee Cyamus) ; and to its Egyptian 

 fubftitutc, the Nymphita ; to fome African fruit, on which 

 certain people have chiefly depended for their iupport ; and 

 to feveral herbaceous plants, eflential to the maintenance of 

 domeftic cattle, in countries fparin^ly furnifhed with grafs. 

 In this lall fenfe it is finally retained, as a generic appellation, 

 by modern botanills. — Linn. Gen. 388. Schreb. J09. 

 WiUd. Sp. PI. v. 3. 1385. Mart. Mill Dift. v. 3. Sm. 

 Fl. Brit. 793. Ait. Hort. Kcw. ed. I. V. 3. 90. JufT. 356. 

 Lamarck. Illuftr. t. 611. Gtertn. t. 153. — Clafs and 

 order, Diadelphia Dccandrla. Nat. Ord. Paplllonacea, Linn. 

 Leguminofs, JuiT. 



Gen. Ch Cal. Perianth of one leaf, inferior, tubular, 

 nearly cyhndrical, cut half way down into five, acute, ereft 

 teeth, equal in length, but not quite uniform in pofition, 

 permanent. Cor. Papilionaceous. Standard roundiih, bent 

 backwards ; its claw long, concave. Wings roundifh, 

 ftiorter than the ftandard, broad, (lightly cohering by their 

 upper margin. Keel gibbous beneath, clofed above, pointed, 

 afcending, iliort. Stam. Filaments in two fets, one fimple, 

 the other in nine fegments, afcending, rather dilated at the 

 tips ; anthers fmall, fimple. P'Jl Germ.cn oblong, llniight, 

 nearly cylindrical, rarely angular ; ftyle fimple, afcending ; 

 Aigma a fmall inflexed point. Perie. Legume cylindrical, 

 Ilraight, tumid, longer than the calyx, of one cell and tv.o 

 valves. Seeds feveral, fomewhat cylindrical. 



Eif Ch. Legume cylindrical, ftraight. Wings cohering 

 longitudinally above. Calyx tubular. Filaments dilated 

 upward?. 



The habit of this genus, moftly herbaceous, in fome in- 

 ftances (lightly (hrubby, approaches that of MedicO'^io, but 

 their fruftification differs effentially. The fpecies chiefly 

 abound in the more temperate climates of Europe, or part of 

 Africa. Seventeen occur in the Sp. Pi of Linnius, 18 in 

 Syjl. Vcg ed. 14; 30 in Willdenow. Three are reckoned 

 natives of Britain, all confuunded till latel)- under L. conii- 

 cuhtus. 



The whole are didributed into t*o feftions. 

 Se<ft. I. Flowers, or l.gumes, one or two on ajlalk, rarely 

 three. Of thefe fome of the principal are 



h.Jiliquofus. Square-podded Bird's-foot Trefoil. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. K89. Jacq. Aullr. t. 361. (L. tetragono- 

 lobus ; Rivin Tetrap. Irr. t. 79. L. trifolia corniculata ; 

 Ger, em. 1 198.) — Legumes foiitary, with four m.embranaus 

 wings. Stems procumbent. BraCleas lanceolate, foiitary 

 or ternate. — Native of rather moift pallures, in various 

 parts of the continent of Europe from Sweden to Italy, but 

 not found in Britain. The roots are perennial, throwing up 

 many weak decumbent_y?i'mj, about a fpan long, branching, 

 zigzag and leafy. Leaves alternate, (talked, ternate ; 

 leaflets obovate, equal in length, but the two lateral oi>es 

 very unequally divided by their rib ; all fomewhat flefhy, 

 more or lefs hairy, (lightly glaucous beneath. Stipulas in 

 pairs at the bafe of each footilalk, large, ovate^or elliptical. 

 Flfwer-Jlalks few, axillary, foiitary, about the tops of the 



(lems, which they greatly overtop, being often three or four 

 inches long, firm, hairy, fingle-fiowered. Flowers large, 

 lemon-coloured. Legume an inch and half long, with four 

 narrow wing*. — Liiinseus's L. maritimus is not even a variety 

 of this. He fiems at one time not to have been clear in his 

 ideas refpeAingJiliqiio/us and teiragonolobus. 



L. tetragonolobus . Crinifon Winged-Pea. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 1089. Curt. Mag. t. 151. (L. filiqua quadrat a ; Ger, 

 em. 1 198. ) — Legumes foiitary, with four membranous wavy 

 wings. Stems fpreading. BraiSeae ovate, ternate.— Native 

 of Sicily and Spain. Very commonly cultivated as a hardy 

 annual, for the fake of its deep-crimfon, velvety flowers, 

 and fometimes for its pods, which when young are occa- 

 fionally eaten boiled, as greens. It is alfo celebrated in bo- 

 tanic hillory, as having firll called the attention of Linnaeus 

 to the fleep of plants. He oblerved that its flowers became 

 invifible in the evening, by being enfolded in their brafteas, 

 and re-appeared in the morning, which led him to conCder 

 this fubjeft, and to write upon it. 



We have fome fpecimens, belonging to this (e<Sion, which 

 appear to be new fpecies, or very remarkable varieties, ga- 

 thered at Algiers by M. Durand. 



L. d'lffufus perhaps fliould be removed hither ; fee the end 

 of the genus. 



Seft. 2. Flowers many together in a head. 



L. htrfutus. Hairy Bird's-toot 'IVefoil. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 1091. Curt. Mag. t. 336.— Heads roundi(h Stem 

 hairy. Legumes fomewhat ovate. — Native of the fouth of 

 Europe and the Levant ; long known in our gardens, where 

 it requires the (helter of a greenhoufe. Thejlem is (hrubby, 

 often four or five feet high, hairy like the leaves aaAJlipulas. 

 Flowers white, or blu(h-coloured, prettily contralled with 

 their red calyx. The legumes, though truly cyhndrical, are 

 fo (hort as to become almoil ovate. On the fea beach of the 

 Genoefe coall, this fpecies grows proftrate, enlivening the 

 llony ground with a profufion of blolToms ; fo that the Lin- 

 nasan definition, " ftem ereft," is not in all cafes exaft. 



1j. corniculatus. Common Bird's-foot Trefoil. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 1092. Curt Lond. fafc. 2. 7.56. Mart. Ru(t. t. 53. 

 Engl. Bot. t. 2090. — Heads deprelTed, of few flowers. 

 Stems decumbent, (olid. Legumes fpreading, nearly cylin- 

 drical. Claw of the keel obovate. Filaments all dilated. — 

 Native of moft parts ot Europs ; very common with us in 

 open grafTy pallures, where it is confpicuous in autumn. 

 The_/?f/nj fpread, from the perennial root, in every direftion, 

 various in length, fimple or branched, angular, leafy, clothed 

 with clofe-prelTed hairs. Flowers of a golden yellow, more 

 or lefs itained or ftriped with dark red, each h<^ad on a long 

 llalk, with a fmall ternate iraSea at the top. Legumes of a 

 (hining brown, or copper-colour. — This has been rccom- 

 mend-jd for fodder and hay, by the name of Milk-vetch. 



L. major. Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil. — Scop. Cam. 

 v. 2. 86. Engl. Bot. t. 2091. (L. cornicuiatus y et ^; 

 Fi. Brit. 794.) — Heads deprcffed, many-fl.jwered Stems 

 ereft, hollow. Lci^umes fpreading, cylindrical. Claw of 

 the keel linear. Shorter filaments not dilated.— Found in 

 wet boggy places, among bufhes and reeds, flowering in 

 fumrr.er and autumn, probably throughout Europe. Its 

 more ereft, hairy habit, and larger fize, mark this plant fuf- 

 ficienlly to a common ob(ervi-r, and the above charafters 

 are abundantly fuf&cient to diftinguifli it from the laft, with 

 which it has generallv been contounded. 



L. d'lffujus. Slender Bird's-foot Trefoil FI. Brit. 794. 

 Engl. Bot. t. 925. ( L. pentaphyllos minor hirfutus, filiqua 

 aiiguftifiTima ; Bauh. Pin. 332. Trifolium corniculatum mi- 

 nus, pilofuin ; Bauh. Prodr. 1 44.) — Flower-ftalks molUy 

 fiwglc-flowered. Stem much branched, proftrate. Leaves 



and 



