302 



OROBTTS. BITTER VETCH. 



[From the Greek, to excite, and an ox ; that is to say, a food nourishing foi 

 cattle.] 



, Spring Bitter Vetch. Very early 

 flowering, flowers large, handsome, singular in the differ- 

 ent shades of colors, the upper part of the large petal is 

 purple with blood-red veins, the wings are blue, the keel 

 blue, tinged with green, the color changes as the flower 

 advances, and becomes finally altogether blue. 



0. niger, is a handsome border-plant, with very dark- 

 purple flowers, in June, July and August ; two feet high ; 

 stem very much branched; leaves in six pairs; racemes 

 one-sided, many-flowered. 



0. atropurptireus, has fine purple flowers, in a dense 

 one-sided, many-flowered raceme. O. formosus is also 

 beautiful, a native of Mount Caucasus; flowers large, 

 fine purple. O. Fischeri is another handsome purple spe- 

 cies. O. tuberosus, a native of England, is also of a fine 

 species, remarkable for its tubecous roots, which the Scotch 

 Highlanders chew when dried to give a good flavor to 

 their whiskey; they also assert that by the use of them 

 they are enabled to bear hunger and thirst for a longer 

 time without suffering. In Holland and Flanders they 

 are dried, roasted, and served at table like chestnuts. In 

 England the plant is called the Wood Pea or Heath Pea. 

 0. luteus is considered one of the handsomest of the pa- 

 pilionaceous family. Several other species are well deserv- 

 ing notice, they are easily propagated by dividing at the 

 root or by seed. A sandy soil suits them best. 



