s 
DIADELPHIA. DECANDRIA. Lotus. 
863 
L. cornicula'tus. (Heads depressed, of few flowers: stems recum«< 
bent, pithy: legumes spreading, nearly cylindrical: claw of the 
standard obovate: filaments all dilated. Sm. E.) 
( Hort. Gram ,.'— E. Bot. 2090. E.)— FI. Dan. 991— Curt. 107— Kniph. 7— 
Ger. 1022. 6— J. B. ii. 355— Wale.— Dod. 573. 2 —Loh.'Obs. 501. 2, and 
Ic. ii. 44. 1— Ger. Em. 1190. 5— H. Ox. ii. 18. 10— Anderson , Astragalus 
glycyphyllus — Fuchs. 527— Trag. 594— Lonic. i. 106. 3. 
( Stems three to eight inches long, spreading, slightly branched, more or less 
clothed with appressed hairs. Leaves shortly petiolate ; leafits obovate, 
pubescent, especially beneath. Stipules resembling the leaves. Flowers 
bright yellow, four or five in a depressed, pedunculate head; the pedun¬ 
cle long, erect. Calyx with five subulate teeth, hairy. Standard of the 
corolla streaked with red, often quite red before expansion. Legumes 
narrow, subcylindrical, purplish brown, near an inch long. Grev. 
Common Bird’s-foot Clover (or Trefoil. L. corniculatus. Linn. 
L. gibhus. (from the gibbous vexillum.) Welsh Bot. (Gaelic: Bar-a’~ 
mhilsein. E.) Meadows, pastures, heaths, and road sides. P. June—Aug.* * 
(L. ma'jor. Heads depressed, many-flowered: stems erect, tubular: 
legumes drooping, cylindrical: claw of the standard linear: 
shorter filaments not dilated. Sm. 
E. Bot. 2091— Riv. Tetr. 76. 1, Lotus—J. B. ii. 356. 1. 
Stems one to three feet high, erect, pubescent, chiefly above, quite hollow, 
branched. Leaves obovate, or roundish-obovate, much larger than in 
the preceding, but similar in other characters. Stipules resembling the 
leaves. Flowers six to twelve, bright yellow, the standard veined with 
red. Calyx with the teeth hairy and somewhat denticulate under a lens. 
Legumes spreading, narrow, cylindrical. Grev. 
Greater Bird’s-foot Trefoil. L. major. Scop. Sm. Purt. Sine. Grev. 
L. corniculatus. var. Linn. With. FI. Brit. Hook. L. corniculati major 
species. R. Syn. 334. L. pilosus? Welsh Bot. Meadows, pastures, 
moist bushy places, and hedges. P. June—Sept. E.)t 
or desirable ; which it certainly must be accounted, whether the name be applied as here, 
or to the different genera so denominated in Egypt, or Assyria. E.) 
* The flowers become greenish when dried : in which respect they resemble those of the 
plants which produce indigo. Cows, goats, and horses eat it. Sheep and swine are not 
fond of it. Thrips Physapus is found upon it, (also Apron Loti. —The minute gall-gnat, 
Tipula Loti , sometimes inhabits the blossom, and strangely metamorphoses its appearance. 
It is likewise a favourite food of the caterpillar of the white butterfly, Leucophasia Sinapis. 
E.)—In Hertfordshire it is cultivated as pasturage for sheep. With.—It is strongly recom¬ 
mended by Anderson, (both for fodder and hay though under the erroneous name of 
Milk Vetch. E.)—There is no doubt but it might be cultivated to advantage. In moist 
meadows it grows much higher than any of the Trefoils or Medicago lupulina , and makes 
extremely good hay. Mr. Woodward. (The Bird’s-foot Trefoils contain more bitter 
extractive and saline matters than either the grasses or clovers : in pastures and meadows, 
therefore, where clovers happen to be in small quantities, a portion of Z. corniculatus 
would doubtless be of advantage, but it requires intermixture with other plants, especially 
in irrigated meadows. Hort. Gram. It is said to be particularly well adapted to poor soil, 
though after once being eaten off, its growth is not rapid. E.) 
1* (Mr. Sinclair states that he has raised this plant from seed on two different soils, the 
above characters remaining permanent ; and expresses his surprise that two plants so 
distinct in habits should have so long been considered varieties only, “ What renders a 
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