The Strawberry Trefoil (T. fragiferum) has long-stalked, axillary heads of rose-coloured flowers which become very compact and strawberry-like when fruiting, at which time they are half an inch or more in diameter. Its creeping stem roots at the nodes; and the leaves are long-stalked, with toothed leaflets. Each head is surrounded below by a whorl of lobed bracts about as long as the calyces which become swollen after flowering. This is common in England, and flowers during July and August.
The Hare's-foot Trefoil (T. arvense) is a slender, erect or sub-erect plant, covered with short, soft hairs, flowering from June to the end of the summer. Its stem is branched, from six inches to a foot in length; and the heads of flowers, on long, terminal or axillary stalks, are at first nearly globular, but afterwards cylindrical and about three quarters of an inch long. The flowers are small, pink, with corolla shorter than the calyx. The latter has five very long, feathery teeth, giving the whole head of flowers a soft and feathery appearance. The plant is abundant, especially in the southern counties of England.
The Crimson Clover (T. incarnatum) was introduced into England and cultivated as fodder, but it is often found wild as an escape from cultivation. The plant is erect, varying from six inches to two feet in height, and is covered with soft, silky hairs. It flowers in June and July. The corolla, which is much longer than the calyx, is sometimes almost white. This flower is shown on [Plate IV].
The Lady's Mantle.
One of the commonest flowers of this genus is the Hop Trefoil (T. procumbens)—a slender plant, with erect or sub-erect stem much branched below. Its leaflets are obovate or obcordate, and toothed; and the flower-heads are dense, globular, on long axillary stalks, each consisting of about forty bright yellow flowers. When fruiting the heads are turned downwards, and the pods are then covered by the persistent, brown corollas. This species flowers from June to August.
The Lesser Yellow Trefoil (T. minus) is very much like the last, and flowers at the same time, but is more slender and more procumbent; and its flower-heads, which consist of from ten to twenty pale yellow flowers, are on stiff peduncles.
Our last example of the Leguminosæ is the Meadow Pea or Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis), which is a very common flower of moist pastures. The plant is straggling, with a weak, angled stem that supports itself by interlacing with the surrounding herbage, aided by its branched tendrils. Its stipules are large, narrow-oval in form, with an arrow-shaped base. The compound leaf has only one pair of lanceolate leaflets, the remaining leaflets having been modified into tendrils for the support of the plant. The long axillary peduncles each bear a one-sided raceme of from six to ten yellow flowers, which are followed by rather large, smooth pods. The plant flowers from June to September.
The order Rosaceæ contains the Great Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis), the only British representative of its genus. It is very much like the Lesser Burnet (p. [301]) in general appearance, but much taller and larger. It is a smooth plant, with an erect stem from one to two feet high, the upper part of which is almost leafless. The leaves are mostly radical or on the lower part of the stem, and are pinnate, with from seven to thirteen oval or oblong, toothed leaflets. The long peduncles each bear an oval head of crowded flowers of a dark purple colour. Each flower has a calyx of four coloured lobes, enclosed within bracts; and four stamens. There are no petals. The plant is moderately common in the damp meadows of England and South Scotland, and flowers from June to August.
The Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) is a common plant in the hilly pastures of North England, but is much less frequent in the South. It varies from six to eighteen inches in height, and bears loose, terminal clusters of small yellowish-green flowers from June to August. The little flowers have a free calyx of eight segments in two whorls of four, the outer ones smaller than the inner; no petals; a few stamens; and an ovary of one or two one-seeded carpels enclosed in the tube of the calyx.