niADELPfllA. DECANDRIA. 97 



or oblong-elliptic, mucronulate; racemes many-flowered, 

 iong-er than the leaves. Hab. On the grassy alluvial 

 plains of the Missouri, from its or nfiuence to its sources!' 

 Flowers as large as those of Pm/?n maritimnm^ and of a fine 

 puri)!e, variable however in size as well as the leaves, 

 hence it appears to be L decaphylJus, Ph. 2. p. 471. and 

 Viciastipidacea of tlie same, 2- p- 739. as bolli tiiese speci- 

 fic names are inexpressive and deceptive, I could not in 

 candour do otherwise than reject them. 



Lathyrus containing near 40 species, is almost exclu- 

 sively European; there are, at the same time, species ia 

 Northern Africa, 5 around Monte Video, and 1 at the 

 Straits of Aiag-ellan, near tiie extremity of South America. 



-497. VIC I A. L. (Vetch,) 



Stigma transversely bearded on the under 

 side. Calix emarginate and bidentate abovc^ 

 the 3 lower dentures long and straight. Vexil- 

 lum emarginate. 



Stem erect or scandent, often slender; leaves pseudo- 

 pinnate; stipules small; flowers in pedunculate spikes, or 

 from 1 to S, subsessile and axillary. 



Species. 1. V. pusilla. 2. sativa. 3. americaiia. 4. 

 $ylvatica. Hab. On the alluvial banks of the Missouri as 

 far as Fort Alandan. Leaflets a little more obtuse ihan 

 Usual. 5. Craccu. Much smaller than the European plant 

 and probably distinct. 6. caroUniana. 



A genus of near 50 species almost exclusively indigc- 

 -nous to Europe. In this genus is included the common 

 Bean {Vicia Faba), so important an article of diet, said 

 to be still spontaneous not far from the Caspian Sea^ on the 

 confines of Persia. 



498. PHACA. L. (Bastard Vetch.) 



Carina obtuse. Style beardless. Stigma ca- 

 pitate. Legume 1-celled, somewhat turgid, the 

 upper suture internally tumid and seminil'erous. 

 Decandolle. 



Habit similar to Astragalus. 



Species. 1. P. villosa. Astragalus viUosus. Aficb. 



This species ought to be compared with P. boetica. Hab 



On sandy hills in the Pine forests of South Carolina and 



Georgia, a»)d on the h«gh hills of the Missouri to its sour- 



VOL, II. 1 



