V I C 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



VIC 



747 



plough once for Wheat. Thus the land in the fallow year 

 is made to support the utmost possible quantity of sheep; 

 the two ploughings are given at the best seasons ; in autumn, 

 for the frost to mellow the lands, and prepare it for a suc- 

 cessive growth of weeds ; and late in spring, to turn them 

 down : between the times of giving these stirrings, the land 

 is covered with crops ; the quantity of live stock supported 

 yields amply in manure ; and the treading which the soil re- 

 ceives previous to the sowing of Wheat, gives an adhesion 

 grateful to that plant. 



14. Vicia Latliyroides ; Little Spring Vetch. Legumes 

 sessile, solitary, erect, smooth ; leaflets six, the lower ones 

 obcordate ; seeds cubic, warty. Stems procumbent, divari- 

 cating, numerous ; flowers subsessile, solitary, small, bluish- 

 purple. It is very distinct from the varieties of the preceding 

 species, by its smooth even pods, tubercled seeds, simple 

 tendrils, commonly very short, and in a manner abortive, 

 with not more than six leaflets ; root small, fibrous, annual, 

 ornamented with garnet-coloured tubercles. Native of 

 France, Norway, the Levant, and Great Britain. With us 

 it is found on dry grassy banks, and in fallow fields, on a 

 gravelly soil, flowering early in May, and scarcely to be met 

 with after the month of June. Observed in chalky banks 

 near Greenhithe in Kent; about Norwich; in the dry parts 

 of Hyde Park ; and in King's Park, Edinburgh. 



15. Vicia Lutea ; Rough-podded Yellow Vetch. Legumes 

 sessile, reflexed, hairy, solitary, five-seeded ; banner of the 

 corolla smooth. Root perennial, long, divided at the top 

 among the loose pebbles; where it grows into several diffuse, 

 angular, smooth, striated, subflexuose, leafy stems, often 

 two or three feet long, but little branched. Some of the 

 branches are always subterraneous, producing colourless 

 condensed gemma rather than flowers, which nevertheless 

 form seeds, as in Lathyrus Amphicarpa, and some other 

 Vetches. Flowers solitary, almost sessile; calix tubular; 

 corolla pale yellow, but generally more or less streaked, 

 and stained with a bluish gray or purple, very rarely all 

 over gray ; seeds five or six, roundish, smooth, in a young 

 state bitter and astringent. Found on the beach at Orford, 

 and since at Aldborough in Suffolk; at Weymouth ; and in 

 a chalkpit on the side of Glastonbury Tor Hill ; in several 

 parts of Europe, the Levant, and near Algiers. 



16. Vicia Hybrida ; Hairy-flowered Yellow Vetch. Le- 

 gumes sessile, solitary, reflexed, hairy; banner villose ; leaf- 

 lets emarginate. Root perennial ; plant generally taller and 

 more upright than the preceding, which it otherwise very 

 nearly resembles in habit and leading characters. The flow- 

 ers are generally yellow or lemon-coloured, streaked a little 

 with pale purplish red, not varying to gray or purple ; 

 they are essentially characterized by the back of their 

 standard being hairy, as well as red at the base. Native 

 of France, Piedmont, and Barbary. Found also in Great 

 Britain, about Glastonbury, flowering in June. 



17. Vicia Laevigata; Smooth-podded Sea Vetch. Legumes 

 sessile, solitary, reflexed, smooth ; stem nearly upright ; leaves 

 very smooth. Root perennial ; flowers like those of the fif- 

 teenth species, but their calix teeth are generally more equal 

 in length. The corolla is for the most part less yellow, and 

 sometimes quite blue, but both are extremely variable in that 

 respect. Found on the beach near Weymouth. 



18. Vicia Peregrina; Broad-podded Vetch. Legumes sub- 

 sessile, pendulous, smooth, four-seeded ; leaflets linear, 

 emarginate. Stems slender and weak; root annual ; flowers 

 solitary, large, of a dusky violet colour, with the standard 

 deeply notched. It flowers in July. Native of France and 

 Piedmont. 



VOL. ii. 128. 



19. Vicia Sepium ; Bush Vetch. Legumes pedicelled, 

 mostly four together, erect, smooth ; leaflets ovate, obtuse, 

 the outer ones smaller. Stems climbing by tendrils, two feet 

 high, grooved, little branched ; flowers commonly in fours, 

 on very short pedicels all directed one way, dark blue purple. 

 This shoots earlier in the spring than any plant eaten by 

 cattle, vegetates late in the autumn, and continues green 

 all winter. But it is difficult to collect the seeds, as the pods 

 burst and scatter them about; and, moreover, hardly a third 

 part of them will vegetate, being made the nidus of an insect. 

 Though it is palatable to all kinds of cattle, it cannot be 

 cultivated on a large scale, for the reasons above stated. 

 Native pf Europe, in woods, hedges, and bushy pastures, 

 flowering in May and June. 



20. Vicia Bithynica; Rough-podded Purple Vetch. Le- 

 gumes peduncled, solitary, erect, rugged; leaflets two-paired, 

 elliptic-lanceolate; stipules toothed. Stems several, climbing 

 by tendrils, branched, angular, grooved, smooth ; flowers 

 solitary, peduncled ; the peduncles various in length, very 

 seldom two-flowered ; standard of the corolla large, of a 

 leaden purple colour ; wings and keel whitish. Native of 

 the county of Nice, Italy, Bavaria, and England. It flowers 

 in July and August; and has been observed in the woods 

 near Clifton-upon-Teme, Worcestershire ; in the isle of 

 Purbeck ; in Portland island, half a mile to the left of the 

 Ferry, upon loose sand-banks ; and in a field half way be- 

 tween the Ferry and Weymouth, near the sea. 



21. Vicia Narbonensis ; Broad-leaved Vetch. Legumes 

 subsessile, about three together, erect; leaflets six, subovate ; 

 stipules toothletted ; stem erect, angular, striated ; root 

 annual. It flowers in June. Native of France; and of 

 Barbary, near Algiers. 



22. Vicia Faba ; Common Garden Bean. Stem upright ; 

 petioles without tendrils ; root annual ; flowers several toge- 

 ther in the axils, white, with a black silken spot in the mid- 

 dle of the wings. Said to have been originally brought from 

 Egypt : it has however been cultivated from time immemorial 

 in all parts of Europe, and even in China and Japan. The 

 most valuable varieties are the following : The first and best 

 sort of early Beans are brought from a Portuguese settlement 

 on the coast of Africa, just without the straits of Gibraltar ; 

 it is called the Mazagan Bean. The seeds of this sort arc 

 smaller than those of the Horse Bean, and there is too often 

 a great number of bad seeds among them. If if be sown in 

 October, under a warm hedge, pale, or wall, and carefully 

 earthed up when the plants are advanced, they will be fit for 

 the table by the middle of May. The stems are very slender ; 

 if therefore they be supported by strings close-to the hedge 

 or pale, it will preserve them from the morning frosts, which 

 are sometimes severe in the spring, and retard their growth ; 

 and by keeping them close to the fence, it will cause them 

 to come forward better than if that were neglected. They 

 bear plentifully, but tipen nearly together; hence there are 

 never more than two gatherings from the same plants. If 

 the seeds of this sort be saved two years in England, the 

 Beans will become much larger, and not ripen so soon, which 

 is a symptom of degeneracy. The Early Lisbon Bean is the 

 preceding sort saved in Portugal ; but is not so well tasted, 

 and should never be preferred, though the gardeners gene- 

 rally plant it for their first crop. The Small Spanish Bean 

 is better than this ; and that called the Broad Spanish, which 

 is a little later than the other, but comes in before the com- 

 mon sort, and, being a good bearer, is frequently planted. 

 It is succeeded by the Sandwich, which is almost as large 

 as the Windsor Bean, but being hardier, is generally sown a 

 month sooner : it is a plentiful bearer, but not very delicate 



9D 



