The BRITISH HE R B A L. 309 
IVISION II. FOREIGN SPECIES. 
I. Sweet Trefoil. 
li'elzlcliis odoratus florc c.erulco. 
The root is long, flender, and furniflied with 
a few fibres. 
The ftalk. is round, upright, branched, and 
two feet high: it is of a pale green, and hol- 
low. 
The leaves ftand on long footftalks, three on 
each : they are oblong, moderately broad, of a 
beautiful green, and ferrated at the edges. 
The flowers ftand in fmall heads at the tops of 
the branches •, and they are of a beautiiul fky- 
blue, and very fweet. 
The feed-veifels are fmall, and the feeds are 
few and brown. 
Ic is common wild in Spain ; and in other places 
is cultivated for the fragrance and lafting fcenc of 
the flowers. 
C. Baiihine calls it Lotus horunfis odora. Others, 
Trifoliim odorntum. 
2, Italian MeliloC. 
Melilotus folUculis jnajoribus. 
The root is long, thick, redifh, and furniflicd 
with numerous fibres. 
The ftalks are round, upright, firm, branched 
all the way up, and near a yard high. 
The leaves have long, flcnder footftalks, and 
ftand three on each : they are fhorr, broad, and 
of a faint green toward the bottom i but longer, 
narrower, and of a more lively colour toward the 
lop of the plant. 
The fiowers fland on the tops of the branches 
in long, loofe fpikcs; and they are fmail and yel- 
low. 
The feed-vefTcls are fwoln, roundifh, and 
rough : the feeds are few and large, and of a 
gloffy brown. 
It is frequent in the warmer parts of Italy, and 
flowers in June. 
■ C. liauhine calls it Melilctus Italica foUicuUsro- 
ttindis. 
3. Sweet Melilot with hooked pods. 
MclHotus odoratus fiUquis fakatis. 
The root is long, thick, redifh, and divided 
into feveral parts. 
The ilalks are numerous, upright, branched) 
and four feet high : they are of a yellowifh green, 
flriated, and hollow. ^ 
The leaves have long footftalks, and they fland 
three on each : thefe arc oblong, moderately 
broad, ferrated, fharp-poined, and of a frefl-i and- 
elegant green. 
The flowers flrand in loofe fpikes at the tops of 
the ftalks and branches, and are of a pale yel- 
low. 
The feed-vefl!e!s are long, (lender, and hooked 
upwards : the feeds are of a giofiy brown. 
It is common in the warmer p:urs of Europe, 
and the Eaft. The flowers in the hottefl coun-* 
tries have the mofl: fragrant fmell. 
C. Bauhine calls it Melihiiis cornicuHs reflexh 
I major. Others, Meliktiis Syriaca^ and Melilotits 
j Syriaca odora. 
GENUS V, 
FCENUGREEK. 
F CE N U M G R --E C U M. 
THE flower is papilionnceous. The vexillum is turned bade ; tlie alje are fmall, and turned out- 
wards ; and the carina is very fhort. The three upper petals feetn to malte a regular three- 
leaved flower, and this fourth is placed in the centre. The cup is fliort, hollowed, and lightly di- 
vided into five fcgments. The feed-veffel is oblong, and fomevvhat flatted ; the feeds are numerous 
and roundifh. 
LinniEus places this among the diadelpbia decandria ; the threads in the flower being ten, in two af- 
fortments. He rejedls the received name Fa-lttim Cr^nm, and calls the genus trigonella. The an- 
tient name is but ill conflirufted ; but as it is univerfally underfl:ood, and the plant has virtues worth 
regarding, which are fpoken of by early authors under this old name, we have prcferved it. 
DIVISION I. BRITISH SPECIES. 
Small wild Fcenugrcek. 
Fcenum GriScum fumilum repcns. 
The root is long, thick, divided into feveral 
parts, and hung with numerous fibres. 
The ftalks arc irregular and numerous : they 
are four or five inches long, and they fpread upon 
the c^round : they are of a pale colour, branched, 
and tough. 
The leaves ftand by threes on long, flender 
footftalks, with a fliin or numbraneous flieath at 
the bottom : they are fmall, of an oval figure, of 
a dead green, and lightly ferrated at the edges. 
The flowers are large, and of a pa'ep-rTe; 
they ftand two or three together, upon flcnder 
footftalks rifing from the bi;lbms of the leaves.' 
The fecd-veflels are thick and (hort ; and they 
are full of brown, large feeds. 
It is common in barren grounds, and flowers 
in June. 
Ray calls it Fivimat Gr^cum b«mik repens orni- 
thopodii filiiiits brevibus erc^is. 
N" XXXI. 
D I V I . 
