166 BRITISH BOTANY. 



pairs, with branched curling tendrils ; stipules small, fringed 

 with slender teeth. Flowers drooping, blue and white, in clus- 

 ters on stout peduncles, which are longer than the leaves. Pedi- 

 cels as long as the calyxes. Calyx truncate, with short, erect 

 teeth. Standard dilated, finely marked with purple lines. Le- 

 gume about an inch long, not rough. Seeds roundish, few. A 

 very elegant plant. 



Woods and hedges ; rare. Perennial ; July-September. 



V. Orobus, DC. Wood Bitter Vetch.— ^.b. 518. l.b.s. 395. 

 A. 8. C. 20. Lat. 51-58°. Alt. 0-200 yds. Tern. 48-46°. 



Stems numerous, erect or ascending, 1-2 feet high. Leaves 

 terminating in a sharp point (mucro), not in a tendril; leaflets 

 oblong- obtuse, mucronate, 6-14 pairs, the lowest pair contiguous 

 to the stem ; stipules slightly toothed at the base, half hastate, 

 entire or slightly toothed. Flowers numerous, with purplish 

 streaks, on long peduncles (longer than the leaves) . Lower teeth 

 of the calyx lanceolate-subulate. Standard tapering into a broad 

 claw. Legumes smooth, yellow when at maturity. Seeds ovate- 

 compressed, smooth ; hilum occupying about half the circumfe- 

 rence of the seed. 



Woods in upland rocky places. Perennial ; May-July. 



Lathyrus, Lin. — Annual or perennial plants, with angular or 

 winged stems and equally pinnate leaves ; tendrils branched (in 

 L. Aphaca the stipule is leaf-like, and in L. Nissolia the stalk is 

 dilated, but the leaflets are abortive in both). Calyx campanu- 

 late, 5-cleft or 5 -toothed, the two upper teeth being shorter than 

 the lower three. Style fiat, linear or dilated at the apex. Le- 

 gume oblong or linear, many-seeded. Seeds globular or slightly 

 compressed, with an oblong or linear hilum. 



Sect. I. — Leaflets 1-4 pairs ; rach terminating in a tendril. 

 § 1. Roots perennial ; peduncles many-flowered {L. tuherosus 2-4<-flo'wered). 



If. pratensis, Lin. Meadow Vetchling. — e.b. 670. l.b.s. 308' 



A. 18. C. 82. Lat. 50-61°. Alt. 0-350 yds. Tern. 52-43°. 

 Stem climbing or straggling, branched, leafy, angular. Leaf- 

 lets in pairs, lanceolate, tapering at the base, pointed, strongly 

 ribbed on the under surface ; stipules {sagittate, ovate-ohlong , acu- 

 minate) lanceolate, with a single, setaceous, spreading tooth at 

 the base. Peduncles longer than the leaves, many-flowered. 

 Flowers yellow, in a close cluster. Calyx cylindrical, with short, 

 nearly equal teeth. Standard dilated, longer than the wings. 



