BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
121 
THE STRAWBERRY-BEARING CLOVER. (T. fragiferum, Lin.) 
This plant has purplish flowers, which are produced in globular heads ; but which have nothing remarkable 
in their appearance. When the flowers have fallen, however, the calyx of each spreads itself over the seed- 
vessel, and becomes inflated and coloured ; so that what was the head of flowers, assumes the appearance of a 
gigantic strawberry, and this gives rise to the specific name of the plant. This species only grows in moist 
situations where the soil is black and boggy. 
THE REVERSED TREFOIL. (T. resupinatum, Lin.) 
This is an elegant little annual, only found in meadows near Bristol. It takes its name from the flowers being 
so curved that the broad petal, called the standard or vexillum, is the lowest part of the flower, instead of being 
the highest, as is usually the case. 
THE HOP TREFOIL. (T. procumbens, (Lin.) 
This is a very beautiful little plant. The heads of flowers, when young, very much resemble the blossoms 
of the Hop ; but when older, the flowers change to a bright golden yellow, and finally become of a brownish 
orange before they decay. The species is an annual, and it is found in gravelly and sandy soils in every part of 
England and Scotland. The flowers appear in June and July. 
There are several other species of Trifolium; but they are inconspicuous weeds. One of them, which was 
formerly called the Bird’s-foot Clover, is now placed in another genus, called Trigonella. 
GENUS X. 
THE BIRD’S-FOOT TREFOIL. (Lotus, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx tabular, 5-cleft; wings about as long Stipules leafy. Peduncles axillary, from 1 to 6-flowered, supported by 
as the vexillum; keel beaked. Pod cylindrical or compressed, a floral leaf. Flowers yellow, rarely white or pink. (Lindley.) 
apterous ; style straight, subulate.—Herbaceous plants. Leaves ternate. 
Description, &c.—The plants belonging to this genus, that are natives of Great Britain, have all bright 
yellow flowers; and most of them are extremely common in fields. Lotus is a Greek word, the exact meaning 
of which is not known, but which is generally applied to plants having bean-like seeds that are used for food ; 
but the common English appellation of Bird’s-foot Trefoil alludes to the shape and position of the pods, and the 
trifoliate leaves. It is placed in the same Linntean class and order as the preceding genus. 
1.—THE COMMON BIRD’S-FOOT TREFOIL. (Lotus cornicui.atus, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 2090 ; 2d ed., t. 1043 ; and our fig. 3, recumbent, pithy. Legumes spreading, nearly cylindrical. Claw of 
in PI. 28. the standard obovate. Filaments all dilated. (Smith.) 
Specific Character. —Heads depressed, of few flowers. Stems 
Description, &c.— This is, at once, one of the commonest and prettiest of our native plants. Indeed, there 
are few fields, where the soil is dry, in which it is not to be found ; and it is generally growing among grass. It 
is a perennial, and its bright golden yellow flowers appear from July to September. In some of the Midland 
Counties this plant is called Shoes and Stockings. 
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