BIRD'S FOOT. 
rose, and of adonis. The speedwell bird’s eye is 
the wild germander,— Veronica chamedrys. It 
grows to the height of 6 inches, abounds in our 
groves, our meadows, our hedges, and especially 
our moist pastures, and is sometimes a trouble- 
some weed in our arable fields. It is a perennial, 
and blooms in July and August. Its herbage is 
light green; and its flowers are numerous, short- 
lived, their centre white, their main part bright 
blue with dark streaks, their outside pale and 
flesh-coloured, and their whole appearance very 
beautiful, and almost vieing with the flowers of 
the forget-me-not,— WV yosotis palustris—The prim- 
rose bird’s eye is the mealy species, Primala far- 
tnosa. It grows wild on the moist pastures of 
Great Britain, is an evergreen, attains a height 
of only three inches, and carries a beautiful 
dusty red flower in June and July. It shares 
with some varieties of auricula, the vulgar name 
of dusty-miller.—The adonis bird’s eye is the au- 
tumnal species,—an annual species growing wild 
in the cornfields of some parts of Britain, produc- 
ing a crimson flower from May till October, and 
better known under the popular name of phea- 
sant’s eye. 
BIRD’S FOOT,—botanically Ornithopus. A 
genus of hardy, annual plants, of the leguminous 
family. The very small species, Ornithopus per- 
pusillus, grows naturally on heaths, dry com- 
mons, and dry pastures in England. Its root 
consists of two or three strong fibres, and has 
attached to them several small knobs or tubercles 
like grains; many slender stems rise from the 
root, and spread along the ground to the length 
of from three to twelve inches; the leaves are 
small, hairy, and winged, each consisting of from 
five to twelve pairs of leaflets with a terminating 
odd one; the flowers are produced in tufts of 
three or four, on slender footstalks from the 
joints of the stem, are small and yellow or red- 
dish-white, and appear from May till August ; 
and the pods are short, incurved at the top, and 
shaped somewhat like the claws of birds. The 
whole plant has a curious and rather handsome 
appearance, yet it does not deserve a place in the 
flower-garden.- The knotted variety of it, O. p. 
nodosus, grows abundantly in France, has a very 
creeping habit, and a whitish red flower, and is 
both larger and more ornamental than the nor- 
mal plant. The intermediate variety, O. p. inter- 
medius, is cultivated in Portugal as a valuable 
agricultural herbage plant, and is about the same 
size as the knotted variety ; but it is now usually 
regarded as a distinct species, under the name of 
Ornithopus sativus—The compressed species, 0. 
compressus, is a native of the south of Europe, 
and was introduced to Britain upwards of a cen- 
tury ago. Four species formerly ranked as bird’s 
foot, now constitute the genus Astrolobium, and 
are all annuals, with star-shaped pods—Bird’s 
foot is also the popular name of a very curious 
grotesque-looking evergreen, half-tender, under- 
shrub of the spurge genus,—Huphorbia ornithopus. 
BIRD'S FOOT TREFOIL. 429 
BIRD’S FOOT TREFOIL,—botanically Lotus. 
A large genus of plants, variously agricultural 
and ornamental, of the leguminous family. A 
considerable number of species formerly included 
in it are assigned by modern botanists to the 
genera dorycnium, tetragonolobus, hosackia, and 
carmicheelia; but about sixty species still belong 
to it, and nearly forty of these exist in a living 
state in Great Britain. Four of the species in 
Britain are indigenous; two are from Teneriffe, 
two from the Cape of Good Hope, one from North 
America, four from the Levant, one from the 
Cape Verd Islands, one from Barbary, one from 
the Hast Indies, and from Madeira; and most of 
the others are natives of the south of Europe. 
Six are evergreen, half-tender under-shrubs ; 
one is a herbaceous, half-tender biennial; two 
are herbaceous, half-tender perennials ; and 
most of the others are either hardy trailing per- 
ennials, or hardy trailing annuals. One has 
flowers either solitary or in pairs, and pods of a || 
curved form; four have flowers somewhat um- || 
bellated, and pods of a long and compressed form ; 
and most of the others have flowers in corymbs, 
and pods of a long and cylindrical form. 
The small-horned species, Lotus corniculatus, 
grows wild on the open pastures of Great Britain, 
and possesses considerable recommendations as 
an agricultural herbage plant. Itisa perennial, 
deciduous trailer, and ought not to be confounded 
by a farmer with the greater bird’s foot trefoil, 
Lotus major. Its root is branching and some- 
what ligneous, and has its fibres marked with 
small granulations; several stems rise from each 
root, are either simple or branched, spread in 
every direction along the ground, and have a 
length of from three to about twenty inches; the 
floral footstalks are either erect or recumbent, 
and five times as long as the leaves; from two to 
five flowers grow on each footstalk, appear from 
June till August, and are bright yellow when 
fresh, orange when decaying, and dark green 
when dried. Linnzeus says that sheep and swine 
do not relish this plant, and that goats, cows, and 
horses eat it. Dr. Anderson, mistaking it for an 
astragalus, recommends it as excellent for both 
green fodder and hay. Mr. Curtis and Mr. Wood 
speak favourably of it as an agricultural plant. 
Professor Martyn says that, in common with 
several other leguminous plants, it renders hay 
firm and substantial, and probably increases both 
its wholesomeness and its agreeable flavour. Mr. 
Woodward says that, in moist meadows, it grows 
to a greater height than the clovers, is equal, if 
not even superior, to most of them in quality, and 
makes extremely good hay. Mr. Sinclair gives 
it a qualified recommendation, and shows it to 
possess both good and bad properties, and to be 
suitable for some situations and unsuitable for 
others. Sheep, contrary to Linnzeus’ opinion, 
readily eat it along with the herbage among which 
it grows. Its flowers, indeed, appear to be much 
disrelished, and are always left untouched; and, 
