THE 
BRITISH HERBAL. 
CLASS XVIIL 
Plants ^hofe Jl^er is papilionaceous ; ^a,hofe fied-veffcl is a regular but fmall 
kgumimus pod ; and 'whofe leaves are placed three on each footjtalk. 
T 
,HE form and ftrufture of the Bower is the fame in this and in the preceding genus, and the 
difuofition of its threads the fame.' , , 
J- For this reafon Linnsus arranges thefe with the ptecedrng genera under one and tl^^e &m= 
clafs. the 4i.AI,Ua dividing them from the reft only by the mark o ^ P-'-'- ^^'^ ; 
This was neceifary according to his method, which does not adm.t any part of a plant bu the flower 
Id fru into the'conhderain of a Clascal diilinft.on . but in nature tne genera are perfedly Icpa- 
r ted from all others, and kept united together by thi. lingular charafter of the leaves gr-.-i 
Whether This is conftant and certain : it does not in all the clafs admit a fingle variation or^ ex- 
ce^-tion ■ and it is therefore a proper mark for the diftinftion of a clafs ; the fmallnefs of the pod jo.n- 
'■"Viff'^irfe of Nature, when carefully obferved and truly followed, there are found nvaiks oF 
,he coletaon, not only of the leffer but greater diftinftions : in this cafe the fame method is ob- 
ferved in that rcfped as in others. The kidneybean is the genus unitirg the leguminous and trifo- 
liate plants, the leaves in all the fpecies of that genus grow by threes ; and the fced.veffel is long, 
large, and of the proper leguminous kind. 
SERIES I. 
Natives o/" B R i t A i n. 
Tliofe of which one or more fpecies are found naturally wild in this country; 
GENUS I. 
TREFOIL. 
T R I F 0 L lU M. 
THE flower is papilionaceous; the vexiUum is turned backwards ; "the ate are fhort, and the 
carina is very fliort, and fomewhat broad. The cup is formed of a Angle piece; and is fmall, 
tubular, and divided lightly into five fegments at the edge ; and it remains with the fruit ; as does alio 
in many fpecies the flower. The feed-velTel is a fliort pod, compofed of a Angle valve; and the 
feeds are roundilli and few. , r ■ u i, ir 
Linnffius places this among the diaddpbw. decanirin, making it of the fame clafs with the puUe : 
and he comprehends under the name of this genus almoft a whole clafs. deftroying the received dif- 
tinftions of melilot, hares-foot, hp-trejoil, and many other genera, and making all lpec,es_ot this 
one. 
N?3o. 
4il 
