LEGUMINIFERiE. 165 



In fields. Annual; May-September. 



A variety of the above has flat oblong pods^ which are quite 

 smooth^ strongly reticulate, with 3-7 small, flattish, wrinkled, 

 ovate seeds, Avith a very short liilum (the hilum does not embrace 

 above one-fourth or one-fifth of the circumference of the seed) . 



Battersea fields. ? V. angustifolia, Fries. Annual ? August ? 



V. tetrasperma, Moench. Smooth-podded Tare. — e.b. 1223. 

 L.B.S. 304. 



A. 14. C. 50. Lat. 50-57°. Alt. 0-200 yds. Tern. 51-47°. 



Root annual. Stems weak, straggling, climbing, branched 

 and leafy, angular, smooth. Leaflets linear, acute, mucronate, 

 2-4 pairs, with very long tendrils. Flowers 1-2, on very slender 

 pedicels, which are shorter than the leaves. Calyx-teeth slightly 

 unequal, acute. Standard longer than the wings, pale-pink, with 

 deep purplish lines. Pods oblong, 4-seeded, glabrous. 



Grassy places about fields and meadows. Annual ; July-Sep- 

 tember. 



V. gracilis, Lois. Slender Vetch. — e.b.s. 2904. 



The following is borrowed from Dr. Bromfield's excellent 

 ' Flora Vectensis ' : — 



Plant larger than V. tetrasperma, and of a somewhat glaucous 

 hue. Leaflets much longer, narrower, and more acuminate than 

 in the above, seldom exceeding 3 pairs, and they are singularly 

 erect. Peduncles longer than the leaves, 1-6-7-flowered. Le- 

 gume 6-seeded. Seeds small, reddish-brown, obscurely mottled 

 with black. Hilum very short, scarcely longer than broad. 



Cornfields near West Cowes. 



(Brightstone, A. G. More, Esq. — Edrs.) 



In the 'Phytologist,' vol. iii. pp. 280, 281, Dr. Bromfield states : 

 " In cultivated fields, woods, and hedges, not unfrequent, and 

 sometimes very abundant, in the Isle of Wight, but uncertain 

 and capricious in its stations. I am still more than half inclined 

 to regard it as a mere variety of the last {V. tetrasperma) , find- 

 ing most of its characters prone to variation ; but in deference to 

 the opinion of others I here keep it distinct.^' 



V. sylvatica, L. Wood Vetch. — e.b. 79. l.b.s. 296. 

 A. 3 7. C. 60. Lat. 50-58°. Alt. 0-500 yds. Tern. 50-42°. 



Root creeping. Stems several, spreading, trailing and climb- 

 ing, angular, glabrous, zigzag, leafy. Leaves on stout, spreading 

 leaf-stalks; leaflets ovate- elliptical, with a short point, 5-10 



