A p r il 1 *MAO. ■
2635
M E D I C A G O minima.
Little Bur Medick.
D IA D E L P IilA Decandria.
Gen. Char. Calyx somewhat cylindrical, 5-cleft.
Keel rather distant from the vexillum. Sfctmens
diadelphous. Pod many-seeded, variable in form,
always compressed, and falcate or spirally twisted.
DeCand.
Spec. Char. Annual, hairy. Stipulas nearly entire.
Pods spirally twisted, consisting of about 4 turns,
globular or convex above and below, with a thin
margin. Spines numerous, subulate, diverging
from the axis, and hooked at the extremity.
Syn. Medicago minima. Desr. in Lam. Diet. v. 3.
636. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 3. 1418. Ser. in DeCand.
Prodr. v. 2. 178. var. a. 8g (3. Sm. Eng. FI. v. 3.
331,
M. hirsuta. All. Ped. n. 1156.
M. grseca. Hornem. Cat. Hort. Hafn. 24. IVilld.
Enum. 805. Ser. in DeCand. Prodr. v. 2.
178.
M. pojymorpha minima. Linn. Sp. PI. 1099.
Medica cochleata polycarpos annua, &c. Moris.
Oxon. v. 1.154. n. 20. Ic. sect. 2. 1 .15. f . 15.
^ I ^HE above synonyms refer to the var. a. brevispina, the
only one hitherto found in Britain. The M. mollissima Roth,
belongs to the var. /3. longispina, and the M. recta Desf.
constitutes a third variety, namely, y. unijlora.
A native of the driest sands. The specimen here figured
was gathered by Mr. Borrer in June 1828 in Romney
Warren, Kent. The Rev. G. E. Smith has found it in