ˌtree-ˈtrefoil
Forms: 6 tretrifoly, 6–7 -ie, 7 tree-trifolie, tre-trifoly, (trettifollie); 8–9 tree trefoil.
The shrub Medicago arborea, also called tree-medick (tree n. 10 a); the κύτισος, cytisus of the ancients.
Not the genus Cytisus (L.) of botanists, nor the ‘Cytisus’ of florists (Genista racemosa).
| 1552 Elyot, Cytisus, an herbe which is good to geue to cattell agaynst the rotte, some call it tretrifolie. 1601 Holland Pliny xvi. xxiv. I. 471 The Elme, and the Tree-trifolie, are full of small and little braunches. 1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. i. xv. 94 Tre-trifoly with yellow knops. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. II. 92 The Moon Trefoil, or Tree Trefoil (Medicago arborea). |