5 



ONOBRYCHIS RADIATA. 



{Radiated Onobrychis.) 



LINNEAN SYSTEM. NATURAL ORDER. 



DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA. LEGUMINOSiE. — (JuSS.) 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Onobrychis (Toubn.) Calyx 5-fidus, laciniis subulatis subaequalibus. Corolla papilionacea ; 

 carina quasi oblique truncata ; alse breves. Stamina diadelpha (9 et 1.) Legurnen sessile 

 1-articulatum compressum 1-spermum indehiscens subcoriaceum echinatum cristatum aut 

 alatum, latere superiore crassiore recto, inferiore convexo tenuiore. Herbce Europese aut 

 Asiatics. Folia impari-pinnata. Pedunculi axillares elongati apice spiciferi. Floras rubri aut 

 albidi. — De Candolle, Prod. vol. ii. p. 344. 



Calyx 5-cleft, divisions awl-shaped, nearly equal. Corolla papilionaceous ; keel as if 

 obliquely truncate ; wings short. Stamens in two sets, 9 and 1. Seed vessel sitting, with one 

 joint compressed, one-seeded, not bursting, somewhat leathery, prickly, crested or winged, the 

 upper side straight and thick, the lower side convex and thinner. Herbaceous plants, natives of 

 Europe and Asia. Leaves pinnate, with an odd one. Peduncles axillary, elongated, bearing the 

 spike at the end. Flowers red or whitish. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



O. radiata. caule erecto molliter hispido, foliolis ovatis obtusis mucronatis subtus hirsutis, 

 spicis cylindricis, alis calyce brevioribus, calycibus leguminibusque villosis, flores ochroleuci, 

 vexillo lineis rubris et macula lutea notato. 



Onobrychis radiata.' — Beib. 



Hedysarum Buxbaumii. — Beib. Flor. Taur. N. 1150. 



Descb. — Stem erect, covered with soft hairs, leaflets ovate, obtuse, mucronate, underneath 

 hairy, spikes cylindrical, wings shorter than the calyx, calyx and seed vessel villous, flowers pale 

 yellow, standard marked with red lines and with a yellow spot. 



The seeds from which our plant was raised were received from John Hunneman, 

 Esq., at the Birmingham Botanic Garden in 1834, marked Onobrychis radiata, 

 Beib. It is probably the true plant of Beiberstein, although the wings of radiata 

 are said in De Candolle's character to be longer than the calyx, and sagittate ; in 

 our plant they are shorter, as shown by our dissection, and no more sagittate than 

 those of conferta and of many others which we have examined. 



This plant, although not brilliant, possesses considerable beauty, and an observer 



