/bQ [ $>;i ]
M E D I C A G O lupulina.
B la ck Medicky or Nonefuch.
DIADELPHIA Decandria.
Gen. Char. Pod comprefled, fpiral, forcing the keel
o f the corolla from the fiandard.
Spec. Char. Spikes ovate. Pods kidney-*fhaped,
veiny, rugged, fingle-feeded. Stem procumbent.
Syn. Medicago lupulina. Linn. Sp. PI. 1007. S>/i.
FI. Brit. 797. Hudf. 330. With. 659. Hull. 165.
Relh. 286. Sibth. 232. Abbot. 165. Curt. Lond.
fafc. 2. t. 57. Mart. Ruß. t. 19.
Trifolium luteum lupulinum. Ran Syn. 331.
T - J.F m the preceding page we have defcribed a noxious weed,
the plant now under conflderation has far different claims to
notice, being one of the moft valuable among the artificial
grajjes; a term given by agricultures to fuch plants as are
fown for a crop : iftead of the fpontaneous herbage; and the
Norfolk farmers have diftinguifhed this by the name of None-
fuch. It is efteemed excellent fodder for fheep; and is often
fown with Lotium perenne for a crop of hay. In a wild ftate
it frequently occurs, both in paftures and fields, flowering from
May to Auguft.
The root is annual, tapering, branched. Stems feveral,
fpreading widely on the ground, angular, leafy. Leaves like
thofe of a Trefoil, the leaflets obovate or rhomboid, finely
toothed at the anterior edge, veiny. Stipule toothed. Spikes
ovate, many-flowered, on long ftalks. Flowers fmall, bright
yellow. Pods kidney-fhaped, with the traces of a fpiral ftruc-
ture, very black, rugged and veiny, fometimes hairy, each
containing a Angle comprefled yellowifh feed. By thefe pods,
and even by their fpiral rudiments in the flower, it is known
from every plant with which it could otherwife be confounded.