302 
The BRITISH H E R B A L. 
We have obferved on preceding occafions, that the placing too many Tpecies under one com- 
mon term or gencrical name, is making the greateft of all difficulties in the fcience. This is no 
where fo evident as in the preTent inftance ; the fpecies of the Irefeil, according to Linnxus, beino- 
too numerous for any rational method. 
It is plain that author ailed from nccelTity in this inftance ; his method allowing no generical dif- 
tindliuns to be formed upon any part befide the flowers and fruit. But this is the great inconvenience 
of that method and indeed it is fo great, that, were there no other reafon, it alone ought to prevail 
againfl: the reception of his fyftem. He is obliged to acknowledge, that his generical charafter of 
the trefoil is imperfeft : and he attempts to palliate the imperfeflion, by obfcrving, that other authors 
have fucceeded no better who have taken in the confideration of the leaves : but there is more chance 
for a certain and diftinft charafter, when thefe are taken to affift in the forming it, than when the 
flowers are confidered alone. This is what we fhall attempt in the diftinftions of the fucceeding »enera. 
DIVISION I. BRITISH SPECIES. 
1. Common white Trefoil. 
Trifolimn pratmfe alhum. 
The root is long, (lender, and hung with many 
fibres. 
The firft leaves are fupported on long, flender 
footftalks, of a pale green : three leaves grow on 
each footftalk; and they are of a deep green, 
broad, (hort, and marked with a white fpot 
ufually in form of a crefcent in the middle. 
The ftalks are numerous, Ihort, and procum- 
bent : they divide into branches as they run upon 
the ground, and fend out in an irregular manner 
a great many leaves of the fame form and ftruc- 
ture with the firft, and the ftalks for the flowers 
among them : thefe are ftender, like thole of the 
leaves, and of the fame pale green. 
The flowers are fmall and white ; and they 
ftand a great many together, in a round, thick 
head . 
Thfi feed-vefiel is fliort, and contains four 
fmall feeds. 
It is common in our meadows and paftures, 
and flowers in June. 
C. Bauhine calls it trifolium pratcnfe album; 
and moft others ufe the fame name. 
It varies extremely in dry and barren foils. 
Some have from this accident made feveral ima- 
ginary fpecies i and, on the other hand, others 
have fuppofed this itfelf not diftindl from the 
common red trefoil, but only a variety. This is as 
great an error as the other. The colour of the 
flower is the leaft diftinftion between them, as will 
be feen on comparing the defcriptions together. 
2. Long-flowered white Trefoil. 
Irifoliim album flofctilis longioribus paucis. 
The root is long, ftender, and furniftred with 
numerous fibres. 
The firft leaves are placed three together on 
fiender footftalks : they are fliort, bro.id, and 
dented at the end, or regularly heart-faftiioncd ; 
and are of a pale green. 
The ftalks fpread about the ground ; they are 
numerous, weak, and of a whitifli colour. 
The leaves on thefe are like thofc from the root: 
they are alfo of a p.ale green, and a little hairy. 
The flowers are white ; they grow at the ex- 
tremities of the ftalks, and on pedicles rifing 
from the bofoms of the leaves : they do not grow 
in round heads, but only two or three together. 
The feed-veftels are fiiort, and the feeds are 
few. 
It is Angular in this plant, that the feed-veffela 
frequently hanging fo as to touch the ground, 
take root : they are fomctimes drawn under the 
furface, or detained fo clofe to it, that duft falls 
over them, and buries them. In this condition 
the feeds grow beft of all, and fpeedily furnifli 
abundance of new plants. 
The natural fize of the plant is not larger than 
the leaft of the top-trefoils, its branches three 
inches or more in length ; but it will fometimes 
grow much bigger. 
It is common in dry paftures, and flowers in 
June. 
Ray calls it Trifolium piimiliim fupimm Jlofculis 
loiigis aliis. iVIorilbn, Trifolium album tricoccmn 
fubtcrmneum articulatum. Others, Trifolium folli- 
culos fiib terra condens. 
J. Yellowifla-flowered Trefoil. 
trifolium hirfutum majus flore albo-fulphureol 
Thp i-Anf compof'-'i nf numerous ftender 
fibres. 
The firft leaves are placed on long footftalks ' 
three on each ; and they are oblong, narrow, 
of a dun<y green, not at all ferrated ; but poined 
at the ends. 
The ftalks are numerous, ftender, branched, 
of a yellowifti green, and about a foot high. 
The leaves on thefe arc larger than thofe from 
the root, otherwife like them ; and generally they 
are bigger toward the top of the plant than on the 
lower parts of the ftalks. 
The flowers grow in a long and large clufter, 
and they are of a very pale yellowifh white. 
The feed-velTcIs are fmall, and the feeds are 
minute and few. 
We have it in dry paftures not unfrequently. 
It flowers in June. 
Ray calls it Trifolium pratenfe hirfutum majus 
flore albo-fulphureo, five ochro leuco. The older 
writers were not acquainted with it. 
4. Common red Trefoil. 
trifolium purpureum vulgare. 
The root is compofed of numerous fibres. 
The firft leaves are placed on ftender footftalks, 
three on each ; and they are broad, fliort, and 
of a deep green. 
The ftalks are numerous, and of a pale green; 
they are ftender, branched, and eight or ten 
inches in length ; but they ufually trail in part 
upon the ground. 
The 
