LEGUMINOSJE. CLXIX. VICIA. CLXX. ERVUM. 



325 



7. Annual plants, with broad leaflets, resembling the common 

 bean. 



105 V. NARBONE'NSIS (Lin. spec. 1038.) stem tetragonal, 

 striated, quadrifariously pilose ; leaves cirrhiferous ; leaflets 

 ovate, entire ; stipulas semisagittately toothed, ciliated, lower 

 ones entire ; flowers 2-3-4-together, on short pedicels ; calyx 

 campanulnte, with ovate, 3-nerved segments, having the sides 

 reflexed above ; style bearded at the apex ; legumes oblong, 

 compressed, obliquely reticulated, glabrous, with ciliately-ser- 

 rated sutures ; seeds nearly globose. O- H. Native of the 

 south of Europe. Flowers dark purple. Knor. del. 2. t, L. 1. 

 Riv. let. t. 40. This plant might be cultivated with advantage 

 as tares. Leaflets 4. 



Narbonne Vetch. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1596. Pl.cl. 



106 V. SERRATIEOLIA (Jacq. fl. aust. append, t. 8.) stem te- 

 tragonal, striated, pilose ; leaves cirrhiferous ; leaflets ovate, 

 serrated ; peduncles short, 2-3-flowered ; stipulas toothed ; calyx 

 campanulate, with ovate, 3-nerved segments, which are inflexed 

 at the sides above ; style bearded at the apex ; legumes lan- 

 ceolate, compressed, with ciliately-serrated sutures ; seeds nearly 

 globose. O- H. Native of Austria and Hungary. Sturm, fl. 

 germ. 1. fasc. 32. with a figure. Flowers deep purple. V. 

 Narbonensis, var. a, serratifolia, Ser. in D. C. prod. 2. p. 365. 

 Very like V. Narbonensis, but differs in the serrated leaflets. 



Serrate-leaflelted Vetch. Fl. June, Aug. Clt. 1723. Pl.cl. 



107 V. PLATYCA'KPOS (Roth, abandl, 10. t. 1.) leaflets ovate, 

 toothed at the apex ; stipulas ciliately toothed ; style bearded 

 at the apex ; legumes almost sessile, solitary, compressed, a 

 little inflated; seeds with scabrous margins. Q. H. Native 

 country unknown. Flowers deep purple. J. Bauh. hist. 2. 

 p. 286. with a figure. Perhaps only a variety of V. Narbo- 

 nensis. Leaflets 2 or 4. 



Broad-fruited Vetch. Fl. June, Aug, Clt. 1 723. PI. cl. 



108 V. MONADE'LPHA (Roth, cat. bot. part 2. p. 97. ex Poir. 

 diet. 8. p. 568.) leaves cirrhiferous ; leaflets oval, repand-toothed ; 

 stipulas semi-lunate, laciniately-toothed, upper ones entire at 

 the apex ; peduncles 6-flowered ; calycine segments unequal, 

 2 superior ones lanceolate, and rather falcate, lower one very 

 long and linear, and ciliated at the apex ; legumes terete. $ . H. 

 Native of America. Flowers deep purple. 



Monadelphous Vetch. Fl. June, Aug. Clt. 1820. Pl.cl. 



f The names of species mentioned in various garden cata- 

 logues, but not described. Most of them are probably synonymous 

 with those described above. 



1 V. Bce'tica, Fisch. 2 V. Cbris, Thouin. 3 V. ferrugi- 

 nea, Bess. 4 V. grdcilis, Russell. 5 V. hirsuta, Fisch. 6 V. 

 hirsutissima, Cyrill. 7 V. Musquinez, Bosc. 8 V. nodosa, 

 Fisch. 9 V. Thoumi, Martius. 10 V. torulbsa, Desf. 11 V. 

 Virginica, Martius. 



Cult. The species grow in any common soil. The perennial 

 ones are increased by dividing the roots or by seeds. The seed 

 of the annual kinds only require to be sown in the open border 

 in spring. All those belonging to the first division of the genus 

 are worth cultivating for the beauty of their blossoms. 



CLXX. E'RVUM (from ertv, tilled land, in Celtic ; some of 

 the species are a pest in cultivated fields). Lin. gen. 874. D. C. 

 fl. fr. 4. p. 598. prod. 2. p. 366. 



LIN. SYST. Diadelphia, Decdndria. Calyx 5-cleft, with linear 

 acute segments, about equal in length to the corolla. Stigma 

 glabrous. Legume oblong, 2-4-seeded. 



SECT. I. LE'NS (the Latin name of the lentil, which is the 

 Celtic name for the plant). Ser. mss. in B.C. prod. 2. p. 366. 

 Lens, Tourn. inst. t. 210. Legumes somewhat inflated, broad, 

 oblong, 2-seeded. 



1 E. LE'NS (Lin. spec. 1039.) stems branched; leaflets ob- 

 long, usually 8, nearly glabrous ; stipulas lanceolate, ciliated ; 

 tendrils nearly simple ; peduncles 2-3-flowercd, about equal in 

 length to the leaves ; legumes broad, short, somewhat truncate, 

 finely reticulated, glabrous, 2-seeded ; seeds compressed. Q. H. 

 Native of Europe, in corn-fields. Sturm, fl. germ. 1. fasc. :j:J. 

 with a figure. Riv. tetr. irr. t. 35. Lens esculenta, Mcench. 

 meth. p. 131. Cicer pimctulatimi, Hortul. Flowers small, pale 

 blue, with the vcxillum veined. There are varieties of this 

 plant with fulvous, bay-coloured, and black seeds, varying in 

 size. The lentil is called Lcs lentils in French, Lentzen in 

 German, and Lenticcia in Italian. It is a legume of great 

 antiquity, being in esteem in Esau's time, and much prized in 

 eastern countries ever since. In Egypt and Syria the seeds are 

 parched in a frying-pan and sold in the shops, and considered 

 by the natives as the best food for those who undertake long 

 journeys. The lentil is considered a native of France, but has 

 been known in England from the earliest agricultural, records. 

 In Gerarde's time they were sown like tares, their haulm given 

 to cattle, and the grain to pigeons, and used in meagre soups. 



There are three varieties of lentil cultivated in France and Ger- 

 many ; the small brown, which is highest flavoured, and the best 

 for haricots and soups ; the yellowish, which is the largest and 

 the next best ; and the Lentil of Provence, which is almost as 

 large as a pea, with luxuriant straw, and more fit to be culti- 

 vated as a tare, than for the grains as human food. A dry 

 warm sandy soil is requisite for the lentil ; it is sown rather 

 later than the pea, at the rate of a bushel or a bushel and a half 

 per acre, in other respects its culture and harvesting are the 

 same, and it ripens sooner. The lentil, Young observes, is a 

 crop not uncommon about Chesterford, in Essex, where they 

 sow a bushel an acre on one ploughing in the beginning or 

 middle of March. It is there the custom to make hay of them, 

 or seed them for cutting into chaff" for trough-meat for sheep 

 and horses, and they sow them on both heavy and dry soils. It 

 is, however, added, that the whole county is of a calcareous 

 nature. It is likewise stated, that attention should be paid not 

 to water horses soon after eating this sort of food, as it is apt 

 to hove them. They are likewise asserted to be cultivated for 

 the same purposes in Oxfordshire, and probably in other districts. 

 The produce of the lentil in grain is about one-fourth less than 

 that of the tare, and in straw it is not a third as much, the plants 

 seldom growing above 1 or 1 foot in length. The straw is, 

 however, very delicate and nourishing, and preferred for lambs 

 and calves, and the grain on the Continent sells at nearly double 

 the price of peas. Einhoflf obtained from 3840 parts of lentils, 

 1260 parts of starch, and 1 133 of matter analogous to animal 

 matter. 



The use of the lentil on the Continent is very general, and 

 particularly by Roman Catholics in time of Lent, both in soups 

 and dressed in butter sauce as haricot. They are imported from 

 Hamburgh and sold in London for the same purposes. 



Lentil. Fl. May, Aug. Clt. 1548. Pl.cl. 



2 E. NI'GRICANS (Bieb. fl. taur. 2. p. 164.) plant pubescent ; 

 leaflets oblong ; stipulas semi-sagittate, denticulated at the base ; 

 tendrils nearly obsolete; peduncles usually 2-flowered, longer 

 than the leaves ; calycine segments rather diverging, subulate, 

 longer than the corolla ; tube of calyx very short ; legumes 

 black, glabrous, 2-seeded; seeds black. Q. H. Native of 

 the south of Tauria and of Lucania. E. lentoides, Tenor, prod, 

 suppl. 2. p. 68. and cat. 1819. p. 56. Flowers pale blue. 



BlacJc-poMed Lentil. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1817. Pl.cl. 1 ft. 



3 E. LENTI'CULA. (Schreb. herb, ex Sturm, fl. germ. 1. fasc. 

 32. with a figure) leaflets oblong-linear ; stipulas small, lanceo- 

 late, acute; tendrils almost wanting; peduncles 1-flowered, 

 longer than the leaves ; calycine segments lanceolate-linear, 

 equal, ciliated ; legumes somewhat ovate, compressed, rather 



