Trigonella
(from treis, three, and gonu, an angle; the standard of the flower is flat, while the wings spread, thus imparting a triangular appearance). Fenu-greek. Including Pocockia. ORD. Leguminosae. A genus comprising nearly fifty species of hardy, often strong-smelling, annual or perennial herbs; one is Australian, and the rest are dispersed over Europe, Asia, and Africa. Flowers yellow, blue, or white, variously disposed; calyx tubular or short, with sub-equal teeth or lobes; petals free of the staminal tube; standard obovate or oblong sessile or contracted into a broad claw; wings oblong; keel obtuse. Leaves pinnately trifoliolate; stipules adnate with the petioles. Scarcely any of the species are worth growing. The seeds of T. Faenum-Graecum were anciently held in great repute for medicinal and culinary purposes; but their use in medicine is with us confined to veterinary practice. The genus is represented in Britain by T. ornithopodioides. Sowing in the open border is all that is required by the under-mentioned species. T. caerulea (blue). fl. in dense, pedunculate heads; petals white, lined with blue. July and August. l., leaflets ovate, the lower ones roundish-ovate, denticulated; stipules lanceolate, toothed at base. Stems erect, 1ft. to 2ft. high. Bohemia and Switzerland, 1562. Annual. SYN. Trifolium caeruleum (B. M. 2283).
T. Foenum-Graecum. Fenugreek. fl. white; calyx pilose, the subulate teeth as long as the tube. June to August. l., leaflets obovate, obsoletely toothed; stipules lanceolate-falcate entire. Stem erect, simple, 1ft. to 2ft. high. South of France, 1597. Annual. (B. M. Pl. 71; S. F. G. 766.) T. ruthenica (Russian). fl. yellow, disposed in racemose heads. June and July. l. lanceolate, very obtuse, sharply serrulated; stipules nearly entire. Stems prostrate, ascending, 1 1/2ft. long. Siberia, 1759. Perennial. (L. B. C. 1391.)