thorny trefoil

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Thorny \Thorn"y\, a. [Compar. Thornier; superl. Thorniest.] [Cf. AS. [thorn]orniht.]

1.Full of thorns or spines; rough with thorns; spiny; as, a thorny wood; a thorny tree; a thorny crown. [1913 Webster]

2.Like a thorn or thorns; hence, figuratively, troublesome; vexatious; harassing; perplexing. "The thorny point of bare distress." --Shak. [1913 Webster]

The steep and thorny way to heaven.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

Thorny rest-harrow (Bot.), rest-harrow.

Thorny trefoil, a prickly plant of the genus Fagonia (Fagonia Cretica, etc.). [1913 Webster]