TRIFOLIUM pratense.
Common Purple Clover, or Honeysuckle Trefoil.
DIADELPHIA Decandria.
G e n . C h a r . Flowers m o re o r less c ap ita te . Pod
sc a rc e ly lo n g e r th an th e c a ly x , n e v e r b u rs tin g ,
b u t fa llin g o ff en tire .
S p e c . C h a r . Spikes dense. Stems ascending. Parts
of the corolla unequal in length. Four of the calyx-
teeth equal. Stipulas awned.
S y n . Trifolium pratense. Linn. Sp. PI. 1082. Sm. FI.
Brit. 185. Huds. 325. With. 651. Hull. 163.
Belli. 287. Sibth. 228. Abbot. 162. Afzel. in
Tr. o f L. Soc. v. 1 . 240.
T. pratense purpureum. Raii Syn. 328.
ß . T. pratense. Mart. Rust. t. 3. FI. Dan. t. 989.
T. purpureum majus sativum, pratensi simile. Raii
Syn. 328.
y. W ith a white flower. With. 652.
J. Trifolium pratense purpureum minus, foliis cordatis.
Dill, in Raii Syn. 328. t. 13. f . 1.
W e have been careful to procure a genuine wild specimen
of this plant from the calcareous hills above Matlock bath,
where it appears to be truly perennial, flowering about the end
of June. Professor Martyn observes that it seldom lasts more
than 2 years in a cultivated state. This may probably be for
want of a fit soil or situation, as is the case likewise with
Saintfoin, a truly perennial plant on its native chalky downs.
Root tapering, branched, but not creeping. Stems ascending,
about a foot high, slightly branched, downy in the upper
part, leafy. Leaflets elliptical, more or less acute, entire,
smoothish, with a pale lunate spot. The uppermost leaves
are mostly opposite. Stipulas awned, ovate, broadish, united,
pale with purple ribs interbranching near the edge. Spikes
terminal, solitary, sessile, ovate, dense, of many fragrant,
light purple, flowers, whose petals are united at the base, and
even combined with the filaments. Calyx hairy, with 10 ribs,
4 equal teeth, and 1, the lowermost, longer than the rest.
The value of this plant as an artificial grass is well known
to agriculturists, especially in Norfolk.