BIADELPHIA. DECANDRIA. Ononis. 833 
slightly hairy. Branches terminating in softish thorns. Thorns at the 
base of the young branches, strong, early in the summer not pungent. 
Leaves almost smooth. Calyx hairy; segments awl-shaped, unequal. 
Blossom twice as long as the calyx. Woodw. In its young state, 
before the thorns are formed, it has frequently been mistaken for O. arven - 
sis. Flowers red. 
Thorny Rest-harrow. Cammock. Ground Furze. (0. spinosa (3. 
Linn. FI. Brit. E.) Barren pastures, hedge-banks, hollow ways, either in 
a sandy or a marly soil. P. July.* 
O. arven'sis. Flowers in bunches, two together: leaves three to¬ 
gether, the upper ones solitary : branches without thorns, some¬ 
what woolly. 
(F. Bot. 682. E .)—Ger. 1142. 3. 
In the autumn of 1779, I examined many hundreds of O. arvensis in the 
corn-fields at Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, without finding a single one 
with thorns. Stem and branches woolly. Leaves somewhat woolly, 
broader, more egg-shaped, and not so elliptical as those of O. spinosa . 
Flowers more numerous, mostly solitary, on the young shoots, alternate. 
Calyx, segments more tapering. Woodw. Mr. Pitt, of Pendeford, near 
Wolverhampton, sent me specimens which he assures me never become 
thorny, and that the thorny sort is never found in that neighbourhood. 
I found it in great plenty on St. Vincent’s Rocks, without the least ap¬ 
pearance of thorns on any of the plants, though I examined a great num¬ 
ber. A smaller plant than O. spinosa. Stems and branches woody, 
cylindrical, a little hairy. Leaves set with glandular hairs; the upper 
oblong-egg-shaped, toothed. Leaf-stalks short, fixed to a broad toothed 
leaf-scale. Flowers scattered, intermixed with leaves. Calyx, some of 
the hairs long and tapering, others short and tipped with glands; seg¬ 
ments, four of them pressing on the standard, the lowermost supporting 
the keel. Blossom standard circular, with a small point at the end, with 
short hairs on the outside, of a fine rose-colour, streaked with deeper 
coloured lines ; wings more than half as long as the standard, egg-shaped, 
white ; keel coloured and streaked as the standard. Anthers yellow. 
Germen with hairs tipped with glands. Seeds about six. Flowers some¬ 
times nearly white. The hairiness of the leaves and the want of thorns 
best distinguish this from O. spinosa, whose thorns are so remarkable, 
and whose leaves are scarcely, if at all, hairy on the upper surface, though 
in both they are edged with hair-like glands terminating in small globules. 
Hairy Rest-harrow. (Irish: Stran boh. Welsh: Hwp yr ychen. E.) 
O. inermis. Huds. (O. arvensis a. FI. Brit. E.) Mostly in light land, 
and corn-fields. P. June. 
Var. 2. Stems prostrate; whole plant clammy. 
Whole plant clammy, not so downy as O. arvensis. Flowers larger and 
fewer. Leafits oblong wedge-shaped. Calyx segments shorter and 
blunter. Whether distinct from O. arvensis it is difficult to say, but I 
* A decoction of the roots has been recommended in calculous complaints and jaundice. 
Cows and goats eat it; sheep are very fond of it; horses and swine refuse it. Linn. (The 
younger shoots, without thorns, do not appear to be objectionable to catile. “ It is sooner 
founde then desired of husbande men, bicause the tough and woodie rootes are combersome 
unto them, by reason they do staie the plough, and make the oxen stande; whereupon it was 
called Rest Plough, or Rest Harrow .” Ger.-—by the old herbarists Arresta bovis and 
Remora aratri. It seems difficult to destroy it by fallowing. The following species is 
nearly as troublesome where it prevails. Apion Ononis , of Kirby, inhabits this plant. E.) 
R 2 
