WILD FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA 



35 



422. Sweet Clover 



Melilotus alba 



423. Bitter Clover 



Melilotus indica 



424. Large Yellow Melilot Melilotus officinalis 



425. Alfalfa or Lucerne Medicago sativa 



426. California Bur- 

 Clover 



Medicago hispida and 

 vars. 



427. Southern Bur-Clover Medicago arabica and 



vars. 



428. Yelow Trefoil or 

 Black Medick 



Medicago lupulina 



LOTUS 



Introduced along gravelly 

 creek beds and along rail- 

 road tracks. Spray of 

 white flowers and strong 

 scented foliage, especially 

 when dry. A useful for- 

 age plant. 



Introduced and very com- 

 mon in the Bay region. 

 Similar to the last but with 

 yellow flowers. Consid- 

 ered the best cover crop 

 for orange orchards. A 

 few seeds in a sack of 

 wheat is sufficient to taint 

 the flour. 



Introduced but sparingly, 

 although common in the 

 eastern states. Flowers 

 yellow and about twice 

 the size of the last. 



The most valuable forage 

 plant known. Occasion- 

 ally found as an escape. 



Introduced in fleece of 

 sheep sent to Missions, 

 and now widespread. A 

 valuable forage plant. 



Annual. 



Similar to the last, but with 

 a reddish-brown spot on 

 each leaflet. Introduced, 

 but not as common as 426. 

 Annual. 



Introduced sparingly. Dif- 

 fers in being quite hardy 

 and having a cluster of 

 pods like those on alfalfa. 

 Of forage value in pas- 

 tures. Sometimes a weed 

 in lawns. Biennial or 

 short-lived perennial. 



429. Spanish Clovers 



Bird's-foot Trefoils 



Of the 120 or more known species, about forty-two occur in North American, 

 and all but two are confined to the west. California has about twenty-five species 

 distributed from the Mexican border to Oregon. Although still plentiful, there is 

 every reason to believe that in early days before the great flocks of sheep traversed 

 the State and the farmer commenced cultural operations, the valleys and hills were 

 densely covered with one or other of the Spanish Clovers. They are true Cali- 

 fornian plants and seem to enjoy the long period of sunshine without rain. Even 

 now some of the annual species refuse to succumb to the effects of the plow and 

 grow with the grain in such a manner as to be mutually beneficial. 



The leaves are pinnate with from one to many leaflets and leaf-like or gland- 

 like stipules. They may be glabrous or of various degrees of pubescence. The 

 flowers vary from yellow to purple, pink and red, and are to be found singly or 

 clustered in the axils or in terminal sprays. Yellow or orange-flowered species fre- 

 quently turn to reddish or reddish-brown at maturity. The pods are dehiscent in 

 some and indehiscent in others, often with a partition between the seeds. 



