96 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
Sup-Species I.—Vicia eu-sativa. 
Purate CCCXCII. 
V. sativa, Fries, Sum. Veg. Scand. p. 47. Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ. et Helv. ed. ii. p. 217 
Gr. & Godr. F\. de Fr. Vol. I. p. 458. 
V. sativa, var. a, Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. v. p. 85. Benth. Handbook Brit. Fl. p. 179. 
Hook, & Arn. Brit. Fl. ed. viii. p. 111. 
Stems stout. Leaflets of all the leaves obovate or oblong- 
oblanceolate, notched at the apex. Stipules frequently with a 
purplish blotch. Flowers nearly 1 inch long, with the standard 
lilac and the wings deep purple. Pods 2 to 3 inches long, gene- 
rally erect or ascending, pale reddish-brown when ripe, with 
imperfect fibrous cellular partitions between the seeds, which pro- 
duce strongly - marked bosses on the exterior of the pod. Seeds 
nearly + inch in diameter. 
On the margins of fields and amongst corn; not unfrequent, but 
only in places where the vetch is cultivated, and having no claims 
to be considered indigenous. : 
[ England, Scotland, Ireland.| Annual. Spring to Autumn. 
Stem climbing or decumbent, 18 inches to 3 feet long, slightly 
branched towards the base. ‘Leaflets } to 1 inch long, variable in 
breadth. Standard with the lamina broader, more reflexed, and 
more suddenly contracted into the claw than in any of the pre- 
ceding species, longer than the wings, and much longer than the 
keel. Keel with a purple blotch at the apex. Pod rupturing the 
calyx, sparingly clothed with short weak hairs, which remain even 
until maturity. Seeds brown, sometimes spotted with black, rarely 
white. Plant bright-green, slightly hairy. 
Common Cultivated Vetch. 
French, Vesce Cultivée. German, Saat Wicke. 
From very ancient times the Vetch has been grown in Southern and Central 
Europe as a fodder-plant, and in England has been commonly cultivated certainly as 
far back as the time of Ray. Gerarde does not attribute any good qualities to it, but 
quotes Galen, who says: “I have known some who in time of famine have fed hereof, 
especially in the spring, it being but greene ; yet it is hard of digestion, and it is mani- 
fest that the nourishment that commeth thereof hath in it no good juice at all, but 
ingendereth a thick blood, and apt to become melancholy.” This species is known as 
the Tare as commonly as the Vetch ; in fact, it appears as though it was indifferently 
called one or the other by the farmers. Ray informs us that in 1686 it was then sown 
all over Europe, and that it was chiefly used in England, mixed with peas and oats, 
to feed horses, but that it was sometimes sown separately for soiling cattle, and was 
reputed to cause milch-cows to yield much milk. The Tare, Brown observes, is of 
