LEGUMINOSiE. 65 



crowded, recurved racemes of small, pale-purple, drooping flowers ; 

 blossoms in July, in meadows, and along fences. Maiden, Cam- 

 bridge. Big. A native of England. 



r. sativa. L. Common Vetch. Tare. This is the com- 

 mon tare of wheat fields ; resembles a pea, but is more slender, 

 and its leaves are narrower, lanceolate, and in 5 or 6 pairs of 

 pinnate leafets ; valves of the legume twist about each other 

 in a peculiar manner as the seeds fall out. Probably intro- 

 duced. This is often supposed to be the tare of the Bible, but 

 the evidence is rather doubtful. Native of Britain. 



V. pusilla. Willd. Slender Vetch. A very slender plant, 

 with minute bluish-white flowers, on a square stem, with linear, 

 very obtuse and small leafets ; blooms in July ; South Boston, 

 along fences. Big. A native of Britain. 



V. faha. L. Garden Bean, Windsor Bean. With an erect, 

 many-flowered, strong stem, supporting oval and entire leafets 

 of ternate leaves. Introduced from Egypt ; a great many va- 

 rieties are cultivated. 



Tephrosia. L. 16. 10. 



T. virginica. Ph. Goat's Rue. Stem a foot high, erect, 

 round, with 8-12 pairs of oval-oblong pinnate leafets, and a 

 terminal odd one ; variegated, handsome flowers, in a short ter- 

 minal raceme ; legumes falcate, compressed, linear, many-seeded ; 

 grows in dry sandy woods, or barrens, and blooms in June. 

 The whole plant is villous, or pale downy, and the root is slender, 

 tough, and long, and popularly called catgut. Big. Appears 

 to be spread widely over the United States and Canada. A very 

 beautiful plant, well deserving of cultivation. 



DoLicHOs. L. 16. 10. 



D. pruriens. L. Cowitch or Cowage. Rarely cultivated, 

 though it is sometimes seen in gardens ; does not reach maturity 

 in Berkshire County, although the irritating hairs on the pods, by 

 which it is useful in certain diseases, are pretty fully grown. 



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