unequal, all smooth at the back; the two outer ones
largest, oval-oblong, concave, bluntly 3-lobed; 2 interior
ones much smaller and narrower, trifid above the middle,
the upper segment denticulate. Pods flat, falcate, or shaped
hke a sickle, taper-pointed, curved inwards, articulate or
jointed and furrowed with several furrows, the joints
knotted.
The present plant varies very much in size and form, according
to the soil and situation in which it is grown, so
that our present figure resembles H. imberbe of the Flora
Grmca, more than it docs the M. procumbens of the same
work; hut we have seen the plants growing in both states,
so that there can be no doubt of ours being the true plant!
II. imberbe is readily distinguished liy its fimbriate sepals,
and the upper lobe of the trifid petals being much broader
and cordate, and not toothed.
Our drawing was taken from a plant at the Garden belonging
to the Apothecaries’ Company, at Chelsea, where
it sows itself in the ground, and comes up annually without
any trouble; it is a very pretty annual plant, continuing a
long time in bloom, and if sown in Autumn will flower early
in Spring, but if sown in Spring, it will flower later in the
Summer; it only requires to be sown in the open borders,
and to he kept free from weeds. Seeds ripen in abundance.
• I"'»'''*- <^"0 o f inner ones, back
S bylw^Sti'gmr’