PAPILIONACEJE. 



209 



in the last two species, the central one 

 inserted immediately between the two 

 others, excepting in the npper leaves of 

 very luxuriant specimens. Flowers 2 

 or 3 in each head, or very seldom as 

 many as 5 or 6, smaller than in the 

 lesser C. ; the pedicels usually about as 

 long as the calyx. 



In sandy or stony pastures and waste 

 places, chiefly near the sea, in southern 

 Europe; very common round the Me- 

 diterranean, and extending up western 

 France to the Channel. Hare in Britain, 

 and probably confined to south-eastern 

 England, starved states of the lesser C. 

 having been frequently mistaken for it. 

 true plant from Gravesend, in Kent. Fl. early summer* 



Fig. 260. 

 I have seen specimens of the 



IX. LOTUS. LOTUS. 



Herbs, with pinnate leaves of 5 (rarely 4) leaflets, of which 2 (or 1), 

 close to the stem, take the place and appearance of stipules. Peduncles 

 axillary, bearing one or several yellow or reddish flowers in an umbel, 

 with a leaf of 3 leaflets close under it. Calyx 5-toothed. Keel pointed. 

 Stamens diadelphous, the upper one free from the base, and 5 of the 

 filaments flattened at the top. Pod cylindrical, with several seeds. 



A well-marked genus, not very numerous in species, chiefly abun- 

 dant in southern Europe and northern Africa, but widely spread over 

 the temperate regions of the old world and Australia. 



Perennial. Flowers usually 5 or more in the umbel ... 1. Common L. 

 Annual. Flowers small, seldom above 2 in the umbel ... 2. Slender L. 



1. Common Lotus. Lotus corniculatus, Linn. (Fig. 261.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 2090. BiroVs-foot Trefoil) 



Stock perennial, with a long taproot. Stems decumbent or ascend- 

 ing, from a few inches to near 2 feet long. Leaflets usually ovate or 

 obovate, and pointed, but sometimes narrow ; those which take the 

 place of stipules broader than the others. Peduncles much longer than 

 the leaves. Umbels of from 5 or 6 to twice that number of bright 

 yellow flowers \ the standard often red on the outside. Calyx- teeth 



