VICIA. 



Vesicaria. — This is a scanty and shiftingly-furnished race of 

 small, woody-stocked, rosette-leaved Crucifers, standing cousins-german 

 to Alyssum, and rejoicing in like conditions of sun and open light 

 soil, which they reward with similar loose showers of golden blossoms 

 in spring (from which afterwards, abundant seed can be procured to 

 increase the stock). V. cretica is Alyssum creticum ; V. Kingii is 

 Lesquerella Kingii ; and V. alyssoeides is Physoptychis gnaphalioeides. 

 Even V. reticulata should more rightly be called Coluteocarpus reticulatus. 

 It is a dwarf, smooth tuffet with stiff leaves to the crown, diminishing 

 very lengthily to the base with a few sharp teeth along either edge, 

 and giving the large rosettes of fringed foliage, perched on their 

 woodyish trunks, a look of special distinctness. The flower-sprays are 

 well furnished, about 6 or 8 inches high, and their brilliant golden 

 burden is succeeded by large, round, bladder-pod seed-vessels. This 

 is of the easiest culture in any sunny bank or wall. Of true Vesicaria, 

 however, its departure leaves us with only V. montana, V. graeca, and 

 V. digitata. V. graeca is a copy of the last, and yet more closely 

 still resembles an Alyssum of the Saxatile type, though slighter 

 and sturdier in growth, carrying the same golden sprays about a 

 fortnight later than those of G. reticulatus. V. digitata is a smooth and 

 glaucous-grey rosetted plant of an inch high, from the schistose Alps of 

 Eastern Caucasus, with a strong likeness to Iberis carnosa ; and V. 

 montana is a prostrate creeping species from the Alps of Colorado, with 

 rosettes of roundish stalked leaves, set with starry hairs, and spires 

 of golden blossom of decent size and show. 



Vicia. — No Vetch is a high or true alpine, because the short season 

 of the mountains does not admit the development of long-stemmed vege- 

 tation, least of all of such rambling rampers as are most of the Vetches ; 

 among which, for brilliancy of blue flaming bunches, it is not easy to 

 parallel our lovely hedgerow weed, V. Cracca. The best of the race, 

 however, is V. unijuga (Orobus lathyroeides or Ervum gracile), from 

 Siberia, which does not ramp or climb, but forms a perfectly erect wiry 

 clump of some 12 or 15 inches in any good open soil and situation, 

 bearing most lovely flowers in June, of the most brilliant blue. V. 

 pyrenaica creeps finely with little blunt-leafleted leaves of bright 

 green, and single largish violet -purple blossoms in their axils ; V. 

 argentea may be So-en in the upper granitic schists of Catalonia and 

 Aragon, where it makes tufts of velvety silver, sending up stems of a 

 foot or more, that do not climb, and whoso leaves, accordingly, have 

 no grappier at their end. The flowers are large, gathered in one- 

 sided heads, with the sail whitish and veined with violet, while the 

 darker keels are tipped with purple. V. Orobus is quite near this, and 



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