ENCYCLOPAEDIA LONDINENSIS; 
OR, AN 
UNIVERSAL DICTIONARY 
OF 
ARTS, SCIENCES, and LITERATURE. 
M E D I 
M EDICA'GO, f. [fo named from its native country 
Media, whence it came into Greece with Darius Hyf- 
tafpes.] Medic, oi-Moon-Trefoil ; in botany,a genus of 
the clafs diadelphia, order decandria, natural order of papi- 
lionaceas or leguminofse. Generic characters—Calyx: pe- 
rianthium one-leafed, ftraight, campanulate-cylindrical, 
half-five-cleft,acuminate, equal. Corolla: papilionaceous; 
banner ovate, entire, the margins bent in, the whole bent 
back ; wings ovate-oblong, affixed by an appendage to 
the keel, with the (ides converging under the keel; keel 
oblong, bifid, fpreading, blunt, bent down from the pirtil, 
and gaping from the banner. Stamina: filaments diadel- 
phous, united almoft to the tops; antherae fmall. Piftil- 
lum: germ pedicelled, oblong, curved in, compreffed, in¬ 
volved in the filaments, darting from the keel, bending back 
the banner, ending in a fhort awl-ffiaped almolf-ftraight 
ilyle ; ftigma terminating, very fmall. Pericarpium : le¬ 
gume compreffed, long, bent in. Seeds : feveral, kidney- 
fhaped or angular.— Effential CharaEier. Legume compreffed, 
bent in ; keel bent down from the banner. 
There are eleven fpecies, and many varieties. They 
are herbs, except the firft and fecond, which are ffirubby 
or frutefcent. Leaves commonly ternate. Stipules fmall, 
fattened to the bottom of the petiole. Peduncles axillary 
and terminating, one-flowered or many-flowered, in fpikes 
or glomerate. Miller has followed Tournefort in dividing 
this natural genus into two, from the fruit, which in his 
Medica is fickle-fhaped ; in his Medicago fpiral, fcrew- 
fhaped, or like the ffiell of a fnail. The fhape of the fruit 
being fo variable in this genus, it is an improper bafis of 
a generic diftinftion. 
i. Medicago arborea, tree-medic or moon-trefoil: le¬ 
gumes crefcent-fhaped, quite entire about the edge; ftem 
arboreous. Tree-medic, named moon-trefoil from the fhape 
of the pods and its trifoliate leaves, or horned tree-trefoil, 
as it is called by Parkinfon, is a flirub growing to the 
height of four or five to eight or ten feet; and, being co¬ 
vered with a grey bark, the whole has a hoary appearance. 
The ftem divides into many branches, with ternate leaves 
at each joint, on footffalks about an inch in length ; there 
being feveral of thefe leaves together, the whole ffirub is 
clofely covered with them ; and it is never deftitute of 
leaves: the component leaflets are fmall, lanceolate (or 
wedge-ffiaped, emarginate), and hoary on their under 
fide. The flowers are produced on peduncles from the 
fide of the branches, four or five together, and are of a 
bright yellow. The pods contain three or four fmall feeds. 
It flowers great part of the year; and, when fheltered, is 
feldom deftitute of flowers. In the open air it begins to 
flower in April, and continues till December. Thofe 
flowers which appear early in fummer will have the feeds 
ripe in Auguft, or the beginning of September, and the 
others will ripen in fucceffion. It grows in great plenty 
Vol. XV. No. 1019. 
C A G O. 
in Abruzzo, and many parts of the kingdom of Naples, 
where the goats feed upon it; and with their milk abun¬ 
dance of cheefe is made there. It alfo abounds in feve¬ 
ral of the iflands of the Archipelago, where the Turks 
ufe the wood to make handles for their fabres; and the 
Caloyers, or Greek monks, form their beads of it. In 
old flfrubs the heart is of a dark colour, and hard, like 
ebony. 
This flirub bids the faireft of any to be the cytifus of 
Virgil, Columella, and the other ancient writers on huf- 
bandry; and, being celebrated by them as an excellent 
fodder, has been recommended for cultivation here. But, 
however ufeful it may be in Candia, Rhodes, Sicily, 
Abruzzo, and other dry warm countries, yet it will ne¬ 
ver thrive in England, (where we have alio many plants 
of this leguminous tribe far more fucculent than this,) 
fo as to be of any real advantage; for in fevere froft it is 
very fubject to be deftroyed, or at leaft fo muoh damaged 
as not to recover its former verdure before the middle or 
end of May : and even after a mild winter it will gene¬ 
rally appear injured by our cold fpring-winds at that 
feafon; fo that it cannot be of any ufe here for early 
fpring-fodder. Befides, the ffioots will not bear cutting 
above once in a fummer, and rhen will not be of any con- 
fiderahle length; and, the ftems growing very woody, the 
cutting of it will be very troublefome. Upon the whole, 
therefore, it is not worth the trial, efpecially as we have 
fo many plants preferable to it: though in hot, dry, rocky, 
countries, where few other plants will thrive, it may be 
cultivated to great advantage. But however unfit tree- 
medic may be for ufe as fodder in England, yet for the 
beauty of its hoary leaves, abiding all the year, together 
with its long continuance in flower, it deferves a place ia 
every good garden and plantation, with flirubs of the 
fame growth. Maranta, who has defcribed this fhrub, 
found it near Naples; Honorius Bellus, in Rhodes and 
the iflands adjacent; Ray, about Baiae abundantly. Ge¬ 
rard, who calls it horned cytifus, or hornedfhrub-trefoil, cul¬ 
tivated it in 1596. 
a. Medicago Virginica, or Virginian medic : ftem up¬ 
right, very much branched ; flowers in terminating bun¬ 
dles. The corolla of this is red and white variegated ; 
the legumes have only one feed. Native of Virginia. 
3. Medicago radiata, or ray-podded medic : legumes 
kidney-form, toothed at the edge; leaves ternate. This 
is an annual plant, having feveral ftender branching ftalks 
a foot and a half long, and fpreading on the ground. The 
flowers are produced fingly upon (lender peduncles from 
the fide of the branches ; they are fmall and yellow. Seeds 
four to fix, ovate, flatted a little, tuberculate-wrinkled, 
rufefcent. It grows naturally in Italy and the Levant; 
Ray found it about Medina in Sicily. It flowers in June 
and July, and the feeds ripen in autumn. 
B 4. Medicago 
