Botanical 
description. 
Cultivated 
varieties. 
Wild varieties. 
Name. 
History. 
94 
The stem is erect or ascending, one to two feet high, ribbed, and downy. The /eaf is impari- 
pinnate, composed of six to twelve pairs of opposite leaflets and an odd terminal one, The leaflet is linear- 
oblong, or oblong-obovate in shape, and downy on the lower surface. 
The inflorescence is a many-flowered, spike-like raceme, terminating a long .axillary peduncle. 
The calyx (figs. 1 and 2) consists of a short tube with five teeth twice as long as th tube itself. The 
three lower teeth are directed downwards. The margin of the calyx tube, between the two upper 
teeth, is broad and obtuse. The corolla is bright rosy-red in colour, with darker veins. The petals 
are free from one another (polypetalous). The standard is large, and its limb only slightly erect. The 
wings are shorter than the calyx teeth, and completely covered by the standard. The keel (figs. 4, 
2 and 3) is as long as the standard, the claws short, the limb large, and obliquely truncate at the apex. 
The stamen-tube has a pair of slits, one to the right and one to the left, at the base of the upper free 
stamen; by these, insects obtain access to the honey (figs. 3 and 4), The ovary is ovate and contains 
one ovule; the style is long and bent at a right angle near the middle; the stigma is terminal, 
capitate, and projects beyond the anthers (fig. 5). 
Insect fertilisation goes on as in white clover. When the keel is depressed by the weight of 
the insect, the stigma and the stamens come into contact with the lower surface of the insect’s body ; 
fertilisation and transfer of pollen are thus accomplished. When the insect flies away the keel returns 
lo its original position, and again encloses the sexual organs. There is no experimental evidence, to 
show whether the flowers remain sterile if insects do not visit them; such is very probably the case, 
as the stigma projects considerably beyond the anthers, and the distance becomes increased during the 
period of flowering. The honey is accessible to insects with short probosces and, accordingly, the 
number of guests is very great. Miller observed 29 different species, but the honey-bee is the 
most frequent visitor. 
The fruit (figs. 6 and 9) is one-seeded, indehiscent, and compressed, The seed is attached to 
the upper margin which is thick and straight. The lower margin is curved, thin and comb-like with 
sharp teeth (see fig. 9). The surfaces are convex, and netted with projecting lines of spiny teeth, 
The seed (figs. 8 and 9) is reniform; the hilum is round and situated on the upper third of one of 
the margins. 
Varieties. Two varieties are in cultivation: — 
1. Common or small-seeded Sainfoin, Onobrychis sativa var. communis, Ahlefeld ; 
2, Large-seeded Sainfoin, which yields two cuttings, Onobrychis sativa var. bifera, Hort. 
The second variety flowers earlier, its growth is more luxuriant, and the second cutting produces 
flowering stems. It is, at the present time, less extensively cultivated than formerly; and does not appear 
to have any advantage over the first variety. Some state that it does not give a large yield because 
it is in flower all the year round. A third variety, which gives three cuttings, is distinguished in 
England. This variety, grown at Proskau in Silesia, in a clay soil with a sub-soil of clay-marl, yielded 
5368 lbs. of hay per acre in two cuttings. 
Wild sainfoin is less luxuriant in its growth and has a more downy fruit than the cultivated varieties, 
An alpine form (Onobrychis montana D. C.) is known. Its low spreading stems, darker coloured flowers, 
keel longer than the standard, wings longer than the calyx-teeth, and short broad leaflets distinguish 
this from the cultivated varieties. 
The name Sainfoin is derived from the French; it was formerly written Sain foin or Saint 
foin, The name means hay of health or holy hay. 
Sainfoin has not been so long in cultivation as was formerly supposed. The ancient Greeks were 
not acquainted with it, and, even now, it is not grown in Greece. The plant designated by Duoscorides 
and Pliny as Onobrychis is not Sainfoin, but a different species viz. Onobrychis caput gall, which occurs 
