af} 
Ornithopus.] XXV. PAPILIONACES. 119 
tubular. Keel obtuse. Stamens diadelphous, the upper one quite free. 
Pod cylindrical or slightly flattened, much longer than the calyx, often 
curved, separating when ripe into 1-seeded articles. 
A genus of few, chiefly south European, with one south American 
species, differing from Coronila chiefly in their slender habit and 
obtuse keel. 
Plant glabrous. Umbel without any bract. Pod slender, terete . 1. 0. ebracteatus. 
Plant hairy. Umbel with a ee, leaf-like bract at the base. 
Pod somewhat flattened . . 2. O. perpusillus. 
1. O. ebracteatus, Brod: (ig. 274). Sand ‘pent very slender, 
spreading on the ground tothe length of 6 inches. Leaflets 9 to 15, small, 
obovate or oblong, the lowest pair at some distance from the stem. 
Stipules very small. Peduncles very slender, with an umbel of from 2 
to 5 minute, yellow flowers. Pods about an inch long, slender, curved, 
ending in a short, hooked’beak, and separating into linear articles. 
In sandy situations, near the sea, chiefly in south-western Europe, 
extending nearly all round the Mediterranean, and up western France, 
to the Channel Islands and to the Scilly Isles. Fl. spring, and often 
again towards autumn. This species has been separated as a genus, 
under the name of Arthrolobium, adopted in the first edition of this 
work ; but the character relied on, the absence of the leafy bract, is a 
very unimportant one. 
2.0. perpusillus, Linn. (fig. 275). Common B.—Stems spreading 
on the ground, or slightly ascending, to the length of 6 or 8 inches. 
Leaflets 5 to 10 or sometimes more pairs, with an odd one, small, oval 
or oblong, and softly hairy, the lowest pair close to the stem. Flowers 
usually 2 or 3 only on the peduncle, closely sessile over a small, pinnate 
leaf ; the keel short and obtuse. Pods slightly downy, about 6 lines 
long, ending in a curved beak ; the articles short and oval. 
In dry pastures, in central and southern Europe, scarcely extending 
to its eastern limits, and northward only into southern Sweden. Abun- 
dant in many parts of England and the south of Scotland ; very rare in 
Ireland, and found on the east side only. Fl. spring and summer. 
XIV. HIPPOCREPIS. HIPPOCREPIS. 
Herbs or low shrubs, usually glabrous, with pinnate leaves and 
axillary peduncles, bearing an umbel of yellow flowers, without any 
leaf. Stamens diadelphous, the upper one quite free. Pod much 
flattened, of numerous articles, each of them curved like a horseshoe, 
so that the pod has as many deep notches on one side. 
A genus of but few species, chiefly natives of south-western Europe. 
In flower they cannot well be distinguished from Coronilla, but the pod 
is very different. 
1. H. comosa, Linn. (fig. 276). Common H.—Stock perennial, with 
numerous stems branching at the base, and either short and tufted, 
or spreading along the ground to the length of 6 inches to a foot. 
Leaflets 9 to 15, small, obovate, oblong, or linear, and glabrous, the 
lowest pair at a distance from the stem. Flowers 5 to 8 in the umbel, 
resembling those of Lotus corniculatus, and with nearly the same pointed 
Keel, but rather smaller and paler. Pod about an inch long, ending in 
a fine point, the notches of the inner edge broad and deep. 
