852 DIADELPHIA. DECANBRIA. Trifolium. 
(1) Melilots. Capsule naked , one-celled , containing several seeds. 
T. ornithopodioiLes. Capsules eight-seeded, mostly three together, 
twice as long as the calyx : stems declining. 
Curt. 124 — FI. Dan. 368— (E. Boi. 1047. E.)— Ray 14, 1, at p. 332— 
Pluk. 68. 1. 
Stems prostrate, two to five inches long, disposed in a circular manner. 
Leafits three, sessile, inversely heart-shaped, sharply and distantly ser¬ 
rated. Leafstalks long, slender. Stipulce spear-shaped, sharply pointed, 
large, in pairs at the base of the leaf-stalks. Fruit-salks axillary, much 
shorter than the leaf-stalks. Flowers from one to four, but usually two 
on a fruit-stalk, parallel to each other. Calyx more than half the length 
of the blossom, pale green, with deeper lines, cloven half-way down ; seg¬ 
ments nearly equal, awl-shaped. Blossom pale red. Legumes short, 
thick, terminated by a short point turned downwards, which gives them 
something of the appearance of a bird’s claw. Woodw. Root fibrous, 
furnished with small fleshy knobs, as in Vida lathyroides and others of 
this Class, apparently to resist accidental drought, during summer. 
E. Bot. E.) 
Bird’s-foot Trefoil. (Welsh: Corfeillionenwen. Trigonella. De Cand., 
but not precisely corresponding with any known genus. E.) In fine short 
dry sandy pastures and meadows, and amongst corn, (but not readily 
perceived without near inspection. E.) Half a mile from Tadcaster, 
towards Sherborn; near Oxford; Tolesbury, Essex, on sandy-banks 
by the sea-side. Ray. Tothill Fields, Westminster. Doody. Black- 
heath, near London. About Marazion and Penzance, Cornwall. Hud¬ 
son. Moushold Heath, near Norwich. Mr. Pitchford. On Henllan 
hill, near Garn, Denbighshire. Mr. Griffith. Near the boat-house 
Sandgate, Kent. Mr. J.E. Smith. On the Green at Beaumaris. Welsh. 
Bot. Fisherrow and Musselburgh Links. Maughan, in Grev. Edin. E.) 
A. June—July. 
(T. officinale. Capsules in unilateral hunches, mostly two-seeded, 
hairy, wrinkled, stem upright. E.) 
Kniph. 7 — FI. Dan. 934 — (E. Bot. 1340. E.)— Gmel. iv. 7—Sheldr . 72, 
Common Melilot — Ludw. 113 — Dod. 567. 2 — Lob. Obs. 501.2, and Ic. ii. 
43. 2 — Ger. Fm. 1205. 4 —Park. 719. 1. 2—Ger. 1034. 3—Riv. Tetr. 6, 
Melilotus — Blackw. 80 — Matih. 1162 — Trag. 591 — H. Ox. ii. 16, row 2. 2 
— Fuchs. 749 — J. B. ii. 370 — Ger. 1034. 4 — Lonic. i. 106. 1. 
tracting their leaves when storms impend. The different kinds exhibit a striking exemplifi¬ 
cation of spontaneous movement in vegetables, both leaves and flowers appearing to court 
the light with avidity, by regularly following the course of the sun. They afford nourish¬ 
ment and protection to various insects, among which will be found Apion Jiavfemoratum , 
A. Mclilotum, A. vie mum , A. Loti , A. assimile, Lycama Idas and Alsus , Geometra cla- 
thrata and retata , Papilio Cinxia, and Phalcena Fascelina ; also the caterpillar of Pha¬ 
lcena ( Botnbya:) Trifolii, whose pupa is sometimes surreptitiously occupied by the 
Ichneumon chrysopus , which rests therein till matured. Vid. Linn. Tr. v. iii. t. 2. 
The under surface of the leaves of several species of Trifolium are liable to be infested 
with minute black spots, which prove to be Polythrincium Trifolii , Gret. Scot. Crypt. 216., 
and under the microscope are each found to consist of “ little roundish tufts of filaments, 
densely crowded, semi-transparent, erect, simple, with numerous articulations ; sporidia 
two-celled, scattered among the filaments,” JE.) 
