---- 3. L. angustissimus (Slender Bird's-foot Trefoil). Heads from 1 to 4-flowered; flower-stalks about twice as long as the leaves; leaflets broadly lanceolate; calyxteeth straight in the bud; stems prostrate; legumes slender. Plant annual. The whole of this plant is covered with soft hairs, and its legumes are generally long, in one variety very long, but in another broad and short. It is a rare plant, occurring in Devonshire, Cornwall, and some other counties. Its flowers are much smaller than those of the other species, and its whole appearance very different from them. Its varieties have by some botanists been described as species, and called Lotus diffusus, and Lotus hispidus. 10. ANTHYLLIS (Lady's Fingers). 1. A. Vulnerária (Lady's Fingers, or Kidney-Vetch). Herbaceous; leaves pinnate; the terminal leaflet largest ; heads of flowers in pairs; bracts large, digitate, or palmate. Plant perennial. The swollen white calyxes, covered with woolly down, are the most conspicuous feature in the blossom of this plant, and procured for it in our rural districts the name of Lamb's Toes; while another species, growing in the south of Europe, which has a still thicker down on its cups, is on this account called Jupiter's Beard. The leaves are of a pale sea-green colour, smooth at the edges, very thick, and remaining green for some months after the flower is dead, these sprays forming a pretty ornament to the inland or seaside chalky cliff, on which they are often abundant. They are common on the sea-cliffs both of Dover and of the Cornish shores, becoming in the latter somewhat stunted, but being luxuriant on the former spot. The flowers are small, but in dense clusters; they are most generally yellow, but are sometimes white, crimson, or cream-coloured. Linnæus remarked of it that in Eland, where the soil is of red calcareous clay, the flowers are red, but that on the white chalky soil of Gothland they are white. This plant, as well as several of the species of other countries, affords a good pasturage for cattle. Mr. Young, who recommended its culture, says, that it is very abundant on the best meadows of the Pyrenees, where it is of smaller growth, and less astringent in property. Some of the best pasture lands of the south of Europe abound with the Kidney-vetch, and many agriculturists have thought that it would repay the attention of British farmers, as it flourishes so well on dry barren soils. It was of old used as a vulnerary; and Gesner having recommended it as an application for stanching the effusion of blood, it shared, with several of our plants, the name of Woundwort, and was also called Staunch. In the early part of the eighteenth century, it was commonly sold in Ireland under that name. The French call it L'Anthyllide; the Germans, Die Wollblume; the Dutch, Wund Kruid; and it is the Antillide of the Italians and Spaniards. It is known to the Danes as the Vundurt, and to the Swedes as Ullblomster. It is very common in the north of Europe. A good yellow dye may be procured from its flowers. 11. OXYTROPIS. 1. O. Uralénsis (Hairy Mountain Oxytropis).—Leaves and flowers rising directly from the roots; flower-stalks longer than the leaves; all parts of the plant covered with silky hair. Plant perennial. This is a very lovely ornament of some pasture lands in Scotland. Its leaf spray is composed of from eight to twelve pairs of leaflets, which are thickly clothed with silky hairs, so as to give them a glossy, almost metallic appearance, especially when they are only half unfolded, and when the silky hair is most dense. The flowers are in close heads, of a bright purple colour, appearing in June and July. 2. O. campéstris (Yellowish Mountain Oxytropis).— Stemless; leaflets having silky hairs scattered over them; legume imperfectly two-celled. Plant perennial. This is a rare flower of the Clova Mountains. Its heads of blossoms are of pale yellow, tinged with purple. 12. ASTRÁGALUS (Milk-Vetch). 1. A. glycyphyllus (Sweet Milk-vetch).—Stem prostrate; leaflets oval; leaves longer than the flower-stalks; stipules large, egg-shaped, and pointed; pods somewhat triangular, smooth and curved. Plant perennial. This is not a very common plant in England, and it is still more unfrequent in Scotland. It would, however, immediately attract the notice of any one at all observant of wild flowers, by its large leaf, so much larger than that of any of our native vetches. The author can remember, that when she first met with this plant in a green lane, near Higham, in Kent, she thought that 9. LOTUS (Bird's-foot Trefoil). 1. L. májor (Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil).-Flowers in umbels, from 8 to 10 together; calyx-teeth awl-shaped, spreading like a star when in bud; leaflets inversely egg-shaped; stems nearly erect, tubular. Plant perennial. This is a common plant in damp hedges near streams, sometimes entangling itself, almost like a vetch, among the bushes and other plants, its stem being from one to three feet in height, and very weak. The leaves are sometimes smooth, but usually they are covered more or less with soft silky hairs. Its deep yellow flowers appear in July and August. It is by many botanists considered to be but a form of the following species, acquiring a greater development in consequence of growing on a more moist soil. 2. L. corniculátus (Common Bird's-foot Trefoil).Flowers in umbels, 8 or 10 together, bending somewhat downwards; flower-stalks very long; calyx-teeth straight in the bud, the 2 upper teeth bending inwards; stem prostrate; leaves inversely egg-shaped, nearly smooth. Plant perennial. Every one knows the pretty little Bird's-foot Lotus, which is so abundant during May on our pastures, and which is commonly called Lady's Slipper, and in some counties, Shoes-and-stockings, Butter-jags, or Cross-toes. The flowers are bright yellow, some of them rich brown or orange; and the young buds are often of a deep crimson tint. The foliage, though generally smooth, is, in one variety, (termed villosus,) thickly clothed with long spreading |