PEA FAMILY 
101 
bee plant it is also esteemed, sometimes yielding 60 pounds of honey to 
the acre. 
2. M. hispida Gacrtn. Bur Clover. Branches spreading or procum¬ 
bent; herbage nearly glabrous; leaflets obovate or obcordate; peduncles 
3 to 5-flowered; flowers yellow, small; pod compressed, twisted into a 
close spiral of 2 or 3 turns, the keeled edge with a double row of curved 
or hooked prickles.—Common naturalized plant, native of Eur. It is 
highly valued as a dry fodder on the ranges in the long rainless sum¬ 
mers of California. 
6. MELILOTUS Hill. Sweet Clover 
Annual or biennial herbs. Leaves pinnate with 3 leaflets. Flowers 
small, yellow or white, erect in the bud, deflexed in anthesis, disposed 
in spike-like racemes on axillary peduncles. Pod ovoid, leathery, wrinkled, 
1 to 2-seeded. (Greek meli, honey, and lotus, the ancient name for some 
plant belonging to this family.) 
1. M. alba Desr. White Melilot. Stem branching above, 8 to 17 
dm. high; leaflets oblong, serrate except at the very base; flowers white, 
4 mm. long.—River beds or moist valleys; nat. from Eur. It is culti¬ 
vated for fodder, though animals do not take kindly to it at first. 
2. M. indica All. Yellow Melilot. Stem branching, 4 to 8 dm. 
high; leaflets cuneate-obovate, serrate, except at base, retuse at apex; 
flowers yellow.—Nat. from Eur. It is cultivated as a cover plant for 
green manure, and has a secondary value as forage. 
7. TRIFOLIUM L. Clover" 
Herbs. Leaves palmate, commonly with 3 leaflets. Flowers in a head 
or very short spike. Stamens in 2 sets (9 and 1). Pod 1 to 6-seeded. 
(Latin tres, three, and folium, leaf.) 
Heads not subtended by an involucre. 
Flowers nearly or quite sessile ; annuals. 
Heads pedunculate, elongate-ovate, small.1. T. albopnrpureum. 
Heads large, globose.2. T. dichotomum. 
Flowers pediceled, at length reflexed. 
Annuals. 
Plant strictly glabrous. 
Calyx-teeth with ciliated margins.3. T. ciliatum. 
Calyx teeth with entire, not ciliated margins.4. T. gracilentum. 
Plant pubescent on the petioles and peduncles ; leaflets bifid. 
5. T. bifidum. 
Perennials. 
Plant small; calyx glabrous ; flowers cream color.6. T. repens. 
Plant large. 
Calyx sparsely pubescent: flowers tinged with pink. 
7. T. hybridum. 
Calyx hairy ; flowers rose-red.8. T. pratense. 
Heads subtended by an involucre ; annuals. 
Corolla not becoming inflated. 
Involucre cup-shaped, not deeply lobed; flowers developing equally all 
around. 
Lobes of involucre toothed.9. T. microdon. 
Lobes of involucre entire.10. T. microcephalum. 
Involucre flat, rather deeply lobed, the lobes laciniately toothed ; flowers 
commonly blooming earlier on one side, and the heads therefore 
one-sided : herbage mostly glabrous. 
Margins of involucre lobed but not toothed ; calyx-teeth dilated. 
11. T. tridentatum. 
