PAPILIONACEffi. 



219 



an inch long, ending in a fine point, the 

 notches of the inner edge broad and 

 deep. 



In pastures, on banks, etc., chiefly in 

 limestone districts, in central and south- 

 ern, especially western Europe, not ex- 

 tending to northern Germany. Abun- 

 dant in some parts of England, but not 

 in Scotland or Ireland. Fl. spring and 

 summer. 



Fig. 271. 



XYL SAINFOIN. ONOBRYCHIS. 



Herbs, with pinnate leaves, without tendrils, and spikes of flowers 

 usually pink, on long axillary peduncles. Stamens diadelphous, the 

 upper one quite free. Pod sessile, flat, hard, one-seeded, and indehis- 

 cent, strongly veined or pitted, and usually either prickly, crested, or 

 winged. 



A genus of several species, chiefly from the eastern Mediterranean 

 region and west central Asia, very distinct from any other British Pea- 

 floiuer, but only differing from Hedysarum (a large European and 

 Asiatic genus, which includes the so-called French Honeysuckle of our 

 gardens) in the pods being reduced to a single article. 



1. Common Sainfoin. Onobrychis sativa, Lam. (Fig. 272.) 



{Hedysarum Onobrychis, Eng. Bot. t. 96.) 



Stock perennial, but of a few years ' duration, with several ascending 

 stems, 1 to \\ or rarely 2 feet long. Stipules brown, thin, and finely 

 pointed. Leaflets numerous, oblong, slightly downy underneath, gla- 

 brous above. Peduncles longer than the leaves, bearing in their upper 

 half a spike of pale-pink flowers, at first closely packed, but lengthening 

 out as the flowering advances. Calyx-teeth long and slender. Wings 



s 2 



