gz FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



L. niger Bernh. Glabrous, 1-2 ft. high, turning black on being dried. 

 Stems erect, angular. Leaves with 4-6 pairs of oval or elliptic leaflets, glaucous 

 above. Stipules linear. Flowers reddish-purple, then bluish, rather small, 

 4-8 in a loose cluster. Calyx-teeth very unequal. Pods linear, i-2 in. long, 

 black when ripe. 



Mountain woods, especially on limestone. May-July. 



L. canescens Gren, et Godr. = L. f iliformis Gay. Leaves with 2-3 pairs of 

 linear-lanceolate leaflets. Stem not winged but simply angular. Stipules narrow. 

 Peduncles very long, with 5-10 large deep mauve or lilac-purple flowers (sometimes 

 with white keel) which turn blue on drying. Calyx-teeth almost equal, broadly 

 triangular. Pod linear, narrow, glabrous, fawn coloured. A beautiful plant. 



Woods and grassy places among the hills, uncommon. April-June. There 

 is a fine bank of this close to the village of Plan d'Aups ; at Broves, Chateau- 

 double in the Var, etc. 



VICIA L. VETCH. 



* Flowers sessile or subsessile. Annual, except V. septum. 

 V. sativa L. = V. communis Rouy. Common Vetch. Leaves with 5-7 

 pairs of large oblong or cuneate leaflets, truncate or emarginate but very variable 

 in size and shape. Stipules often with a dark blotch. Calyx-teeth nearly equal. 

 Flowers solitary or in pairs, purple-red. Pod large, yellowish when ripe. Very 

 polymorphic. 



Fields, road-sides, and waste places, common. March-July. 



V. sativa can be divided into various sub-species, varieties, and forms, 

 nearly all of which are found on the Mediterranean littoral ; but it is a matter of 

 opinion as to what rank these should take ; and the genus, and particularly this 

 group, much needs monographing. Modern continental botanists have a tendency 

 to consider such plants as V. angustifolia, V. heterophylla, and V. amphi 

 carpa sub-species and no longer worthy of specific rank ; but it may be better in 

 a book of this description to adhere to the conservative view and describe them 

 as species, especially as there are several well-marked varieties we wish to draw 

 attention to. The more one studies European plants the more is he driven to 

 believe that in respect to the subdivision of certain large and " critical " genera 

 such as the present, the materials in one country, such as France, may give one 

 result and those in another country, e.g. the British Isles, a somewhat different 

 result. It is well known to students of the continental flora how very different 

 and more varied many British plants are in certain places on the continent of 

 Europe from the normal type which they assume in the British Isles. When we 

 realize that often these differences are not constant, it behoves us to be all the 

 more careful before giving a new varietal, and still more a new specific, name to 

 a plant which we have not seen before and cannot match in the first great 

 Herbarium we consult. 



To return to Vicia sativa, there is a robust variety called macrocarpa = 

 V. macrocarpa Moris with extremely large pods and flowers and larger and 

 broader leaflets. It is commoner than the type in our district. Another, V. 

 cor data Wulf., 'which has large cordate leaflets and very large handsome 

 flowers, is also quite common in the Var, especially in the lowlands. 



Both flower from April to June. 



V. angustifolia L. is distinguished from V. sativa by its almost linear 

 leaflets of the upper leaves, its black not yellowish pod when ripe, and its smaller 

 flowers. Several varieties and forms occur. 



It grows in similar places and flowers from April to June. 



V. amphicarpa Dorthes. This has whitish stoloniferous, subterranean 

 branches, with oval, ivory-white pods under the earth. Flowers of 2 kinds, the 

 underground ones have no corolla, and the others are rose, large, solitary, and 

 subsessile. Leaflets oblong cuneate, narrow. Ordinary pods hairy, linear. 

 Dry places on the littoral, rare. Clearings of pine-woods, etc. April-June. 



