14 



MARYLAND AGRICULTURAL E3XPERIMENT STATION. 



plant, but native now in all temperate regions. Common in fields in 

 central Maryland and seen on the Eastern Shore near Easton and ( en- 

 treville. It is said to be a good pasture plant on wet meadows or stiff 

 clay soils, too poor to grow clover or alfalfa. It stands drouth well. 

 (Plate I. Figure 4). 



Alfalfa, Medicago sativa. Wild plants of this well-known agri- 

 cultural crop have been seen in Maryland at Washington Junction, and 



tig. 14 — Alfalfa, or Lucerne (Medicago sative) : a, b, seed pod, side and end view; 

 c, seeds enlarged. After Smith. Farmers' Bulletin 66, United States Department of 

 Agriculture. 



in District of Columbia. The flowers are rich in honey and the great 

 feeding value is well known. (Figure 14 and Plate I. Figure 5). 



Partridge pea, Cassia Chamaecrista. A low, branching, annual herb, 

 one-half to three feet high, with pinnate leaves of about twenty small 

 leaflets each and large yellow flowers which are more regular in shape 

 than in most leguminous plants. Common in the dryer soils in fields east 

 of the mountains of Maryland, especially on the Eastern Shore, and 

 found all over the Eastern States. One of the most promising wild 

 plants for nitrogenous green manuring. Often covers, naturally, the 

 stubble fields with a dense growth. Cultivated occasionally, since very 

 early times in Virginia, for improving land. (Figure 9). 



Sensith'e pea. Cassia nictitans, is like the last, but smaller and with 

 finer leaves and much smaller flowers ; the pods assume a more 



