200 LEGUMINOS.E 



by Professor Thaers, which is, that when cut green it does not exhaust the 

 soil; and that when made into hay it is more palatable and nutritive to 

 cattle than any other food. Vetches are generally cut down before ripening 

 their seeds, but these are sometimes allowed to ripen, either for sowing or 

 for feeding pigeons. This plant is usually about two feet high, and has 

 purple, blue, or reddish flowers in June. A variety termed angustifolia has 

 sometimes been described as a distinct species. Its upper leaflets are narrow, 

 its flowers solitary or in pairs, generally smaller and of a brighter red than 

 in the ordinary form, and its pods spreading; it is found in dry places. 

 Another variety has also been termed Ilcia bobartii ; in this the flowers are 

 solitary, the stem prostrate, and the pods spreading. 



7. Rough - podded Yellow Vetch (F. hitea). —Flowers solitary, 

 sessile ; standard smooth ; leaflets lanceolate in four or five to eight pairs ; 

 stipules marked with a deep red spot ; calyx-teeth unequal, upper ones very 

 short and curved upwards; pods hairy. Plant perennial. This is a rare 

 species, growing in rocky or pebbly lands, especially near the sea, in England 

 and Scotland. It is about two feet in height, and its flowers, which are 

 produced in June and July, are large, and of pale yellow. 



* * * * Floiver-stalks long ; calyx equal at the base. 



8. Hairy-flowered Yellow Vetch {V. hybrida). — Flowers solitary, 

 axillary ; calyx-teeth unequal, spreading ; standard hairy ; pods oblong and 

 hairy ; stipules egg-shaped and without spot ; leaflets abrupt ; stem ascend- 

 ing. Plant perennial. This yellow-flowered species is very similar to the 

 last, and diifers from it chiefly in the standard of its flower, which is covered 

 with an abundance of glossy yellowish hair. It is in blossom in July and 

 August ; and was formerly found on Glastonbury Tor Hill, and at Swan 

 Pool, Lincoln, but is now extinct in this country. 



9. Bush Vetch (V. s6pium). — Flowers from four to six in a small 

 sessile cluster ; leaflets egg-shaped, obtuse, gradually decreasing in size to- 

 wards the end of the leaf-stalk ; stipules half arrow-shaped, undivided or 

 lobed ; pods smooth ; seeds round, marked with black and grey. Plant 

 perennial. This species is very common in woods or under hedges, but it is 

 not one of the prettiest of our vetches. Its clusters of pale pink or blue 

 flowers are of a somewhat dull tint. They are to be found from April to 

 June, for this is the earliest blooming of all the species ; and in mild springs 

 it will often put forth its blossoms even in March, while its young shoots are, 

 as early as February, arrayed with tender green leaves, the first spi'ing food 

 of cattle. This plant also vegetates later in autumn than any other Vetch, 

 and remains green the greater part of the winter. Its culture, as food for 

 animals, has been warmly recommended. A patch of the Bush Vetch, sown 

 in a garden, has been cut five times in the course of the second year, and 

 produced a large amount of green herbage. Mr. Swayne observes that it is 

 palatable to all kinds of cattle, but that it is difficult of cultivation on a 

 large scale, the seeds being greedily devoured by the larvae of some insect. 



Several of the Vetches are grown to great extent in other countries of 

 Europe. In Germany, the Broad-leaved Vetch, V. narbonensis, and the Saw- 

 leaved Vetch, K serratifolia, are much cultivated ; and our garden and field 



