20 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
Var. 6, Dillenii. 
A. Dillenii, Schultz. Boreau, 1. c. 
Flowers red. Involucre nearly as long as the flowers. 
On dry banks and pastures. Rather common, and generally 
distributed. Var. 6 on the South-west coast of England and Wales. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Summer. 
Rootstock woody, branching into numerous heads, which pro- 
duce straight, stiff, ascending stems, 6 to 18 inches long, or even 
more. Root-leaves on long stalks, with a large elliptical terminal 
leaflet, and frequently a few much smaller lateral ones. Stem- 
leaves with from 2 to 6 pair of linear-elliptical leaflets, and an odd 
one. Flower-heads 1 to 14 inch across, subsessile, involucrate, 
generally in pairs at the top of the stem, one of them a little more 
distinctly stalked than the other; occasionally there are axillary 
sessile heads, but more generally the axillary heads are at the 
termination of short branches. Flowers } inch long, not much 
exceeding the calyx. Petals with very long claws. Limb of the 
standard with an appendage at the base on each side; wings and 
keel adhering together. Pod about § inch long, half-oval, apicu- 
late, glabrous, reticulated. Seeds 1 or 2, ovoid, smooth. 
Var. 8 is smaller than «, and may be a distinct sub-species ; but 
I have only seen dried specimens, and none of them have the ripe 
fruit from which Professor Boreau takes some of his characters ; 
his A. Dillenii having the pod more longly stipitate, and with 
a straight instead of a curved apiculus. 
Common Kidney Vetch, Ladies’ -finger, or Lamb-toe. 
French, Anthyllide Vulnéraire. German, Gemeiner Wundklee. 
The specific name of this plant indicates its reputation in pharmacy as an 
astringent and vulnerary. It is said that Gesner first raised the report of its proper- 
ties in this respect, which are, however, very doubtful, and possibly consist in nothing 
but its soft downy nature, which may on emergency serve to stanch blood, and give 
time for nature to effect a cure. The belief in its virtues was, however, great at one 
time, and in 1727 it was regularly sold in the Dublin market by the name of Stanch. 
A yellow dye may be obtained from it. It affords excellent pasture for sheep. 
Where the soil was a reddish clay, Linnzeus remarked the blossoms to be red; but in 
white clay, white. 
Dr. Withering says: “In Portugal we have always found them red.” In 
England most commonly, as the rustic poet observes,— 
“The yellow Lamb-toe I have often got, 
Sweet creeping o’er the banks in sunny time.” 
All the species of Anthyllis are very beautiful when in flower, and this little 
British species is quite worth cultivation, 
