116 



The Flora of Wiltshire. 



1. L. corniculatus 1 (Linn.) Horned or Common Birds-foot Tre- 

 foil. Engl. Bot. t. 2090. 



Locality. In meadows, pastures, dry banks, and roadsides, 

 abundant. P. Fl. June, September. Area, 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Common 

 in all the Districts. 



There are scarcely any of our native plants more ornamental 

 than this, decorating our grassy banks with its rich golden yellow 

 coronet of flowers, the structure of which will amply repay the 

 close observer. Its habit varies greatly according to soil and 

 aspect. A variety ,3. villosus in which the pubescence is long and 

 spreading, instead of adpressed is sometimes met with in the 

 county. 



2. L. tenuis (Sm.) slender narrow-leaved Birds-foot Trefoil. 

 Engl Bot. Suppl. t. 2615. 



Locality. Pastures, dry banks, and borders of fields on clay. 

 P. Fl. June, August. Area, * * * 4. * 



North Division. 



4. North-west District, Pastures between Box and Oolerne. 

 " Road from Kingsdown to Wraxhall, and in lane between the 

 Horse and Jockey, and Wraxhall," Dr. Alexander Prior. 



By many botanists considered merely a variety of the last, but 

 under garden culture it has kept itself distinct. Mr. H. 0. Watson 

 informs me he has failed to change the one into the other, after 

 planting the roots in dry ground and raising the former species 

 afresh from seeds, two or three times. It is generally found 

 growing in company with Trifolium medium, and Genista tinctoria. 



3. L. major (Scop. ?) Greater Birds-foot Trefoil. Engl. Bot. t 

 2091. L. uliginosus Schkuhr. 



Locality. Moist bushy places, and sides of ditches, by no means 

 unfrequent. P. Fl. July, August. Area, 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 



More or less distributed in all the Districts throughout Wilts. 

 but not so frequent as L. corniculatus, of which it was formerly 

 considered a large variety. The late Dr. Beeke the worthy 



^his species is frequently called "Fingers and Thumbs" by the Wiltshire 

 peasantry. 



