DIADELPHIA. DECANDRIA. Tripolium, m 
Leqfits of the lower-leaves oblong-wedge-shaped, those of the upper ellip¬ 
tical, sharply serrated, toothed. Stipulce, the lower with three or four 
awl-shaped teeth; the upper spear-shaped, entire. Bunches long. 
Flowers bent back, scattered. Pedicles short, hairy. Floral-leaves awl- 
shaped, small, one at the base of each pedicle. Calyx one third the 
length of the blossom, clefts extending half way down, segments nearly 
equal. Woodw. Blossom yellow. ( Stem about two feet high, branched, 
furrowed. When dried, this plant exhales a fragrant odour like that of 
Anthoxanthum. E.) 
(A variety bearing white blossoms has been observed by Mr. Winch grow¬ 
ing on Willington Ballast, Durham; and on the Ballast Hills below 
Gateshead. E.) 
Common Melilot. King’s Clover. Hart’s Clover. (Welsh : MeiU 
lionen y ceirw . E.) Corn-fields, meadows, and ditch banks, in stiff soil. 
A. June-—July.* 
(2) Legume covered; many-seeded. 
T. (re'pens. Heads globose: flowers somewhat stalked: legume 
four-seeded: stem creeping. E.) 
Curt. 193— FI. Dan. 990— E. Bot. 1769— Mich. 25. 3 and 4— Biv. Tetr. IT. 
2, T. repens — Dod. 565— Loh. Obs. 493. 2, and Ic. ii. 29. 1 — Ger. Em. 
1185. 1 —Park. 1110. 1— J. B. ii. 380. 3— H. Ox. ii. 12, row 1. 2. 
( Stems six to eighteen inches long, solid; by which latter circumstance, 
according to Smith, it is essentially distinguished from T. hybridum of 
Linn. E.) Stipulce in pairs, oval-spear-shaped, lengthened out into an 
awn. Lea fits varying in shape, but generally oval and blunt, sharply 
serrated, with a strong mid-rib, and numerous branching ribs terminating 
in the serratures. Leaf-stalks and fruit-stalks long, upright, rising nearly 
at right angles from the stem. Flowers in a close head, upright, when 
shrivelling bent downwards. Pedicles short. Stipulce small, awl-shaped, 
one to each pedicle. Calyx teeth nearly equal, the two upper rather 
longer, reddish. Blossom white. Standard oval. Woodw. Leafits in¬ 
versely-heart-shaped, and egg-shaped. Calyx greenish white, with pur¬ 
ple streaks. When the flowering is partly over, the heads assume a 
peculiar appearance, the florets diverging from the centre, spreading 
outwards and downwards like an umbrella. 
Var. 2. Bloodwort. Leaves a deep purple. 
Yar. 3. Proliferous. Small heads of leaves growing out of the flowers. 
* This is more fragrant when dry than when green. (It was formerly considered 
emollient and digestive, and therefore used in fomentations and cataplasms, but it has been 
laid aside as too acrid and irritating. E.) A water distilled from the flowers possesses but 
little odour in itself, but improves the flavour of other substances. Horses are extremely 
fond of it; cows, goats, sheep, and swine eat it. (The capsules containing the seeds are 
so tough and adhesive, that even thrashing will not dislodge them ; so that in samples of 
wheat, the wrinkled capsule is called the seed. Prof. Martyn. Mr. Holdich, in his Essay 
on the Weeds of Agriculture, asserts this to be the most pernicious seed in wheat, a few 
seeds communicating a very strong and disagreeable smell to the flour. In arable land, it 
cannot be too much guarded against, and ought never to be sown with seed corn. It 
should be sedulously rooted up by weeding in the spring, for where it has once got in the 
land, it propagates itself by scattering many seeds before the crop be ripe. It does not 
appear to have been cultivated in England. E.) 
