96 FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



silky and very acute. Flowers open more or less at same time and are very 

 handsome, 4-10 in a unilateral raceme. Pod large and broad, hairy. 



Dry ditches, borders of fields, etc., frequent in the Var but rather rare in 

 Alpes-Marit. March-June. 



V. perennis DC. appears to be a perennial variety of the last. Early in 

 June, 1913, Mr. Raine pointed out to me in the corner of a field close to the 

 English Church at Hyeres a patch of atropurpurea he considered perennia., 

 after several years observation. I dried a few specimens in an advanced stage 

 and collected seed, which has germinated successfully in Surrey. The pods at 

 Hyeres were 9 x 30 mm. but often shorter and with only i or 2 seeds. Seeds 

 large, oval (6 mm. long), black when ripe, slightly mottled with green. When 

 nearly ripe the pods are purplish, and finally almost fawn coloured, pubescent or 

 velvety. 



*** Flowers on a long peduncle ; calyx-teeth mostly longer than the tube. 

 All annuals. Genus Ervum of Linnceus. 



V. monanthos Desf. Almost erect, 1-2 ft. high, bushy. Leaflets linear, 

 truncate or deeply emarginate, in 5-7 pairs. Stipules unequal ; one entire and 

 sessile, the other petioled and divided into linear segments. Flowers bluish- 

 white, with black spot at top, solitary on aristate peduncles. Calyx-teeth almost 

 equal, stiff. Pod 30 mm. by 10, glabrous, with 2-4 seeds. 



In crops and on sandy soil, very local. April-June. 



V. tetrasperma Mcench. = V. gemella Crantz. Four-seeded Vetch. 

 A very slender plant. Leaflets 3-6 pairs, variable, usually narrow, obtuse or 

 truncate. Peduncles 1-2 flowered. Flowers small, pale blue-lilac. Lower 

 stipules bifid, upper ones entire, toothed on one side at the base. Pedicels 

 slender, curved. Calyx -tube short, upper teeth shortest. Pod glabrous, 4-seeded. 



Fields and waste places. April-June. 



V. gracilis Loisel. Slender Vetch. Usually stiffer than the last and 

 much like it, but with 3-4 pairs of narrow more pointed leaflets. Peduncles 

 longer, very slender, with 2-6 rather larger and sometimes darker lilac flowers. 

 Pod longer, 4-8 seeded. Calyx-teeth shorter than the tube. 



Fields and road-sides, less common. April-June. 



V. pubescens Lk. Allied to the two last. Pubescent. Leaflets rather 

 large, oblong, obtuse. Stipules linear, entire. Flowers pale, small, 2-5 on 

 capillary peduncles, not aristate, equalling the leaf. Tendrils simple. Pod 15 

 mm. by 3 or 4 mm., nearly always pubescent. Seeds 5-6. 



Dry, arid places, local. April-June. 



V. disperma DC. Two-seeded Vetch. Glabrescent, slender, 1-2 ft. 

 Leaflets in 6-10 pairs, linear-oblong. Stipules entire. Flowers bluish-mauve, 

 small (4-5 mm.), 2-6 on aristate peduncles shorter than the leaves. Calyx-teeth 

 very unequal. Pod glabrous, rhomboid-oblong, fawn coloured, turning reddish- 

 brown, with 2 black velvety seeds. Whole plant often purplish. 



Sandy fields and pine-woods in the littoral region, local. April-May. 



V. hirsuta K. Hairy Vetch or Tare. Habit of V. tetrasperma but 



hairy. Leaflets 6-10 pairs, linear-obtuse mucronate, smaller than in V. tetra- 

 sperma. Stipules often 4-lobed. Flowers very small, bluish-white, 3-8 in 

 short clusters on slender aristate peduncles. Calyx-teeth nearly equal. Pod 

 very small, sessile, blackish, 2-seeded. 



Fields and waste places, common. April-June. 



Vicia Ervilia Willd. Erect, shrubby and leafy, a foot high. Leaves 

 ending in a mucro, with 8-12 pairs of narrow leaflets. Flowers whitish-pink, 

 veined with purple, 1-4 on rather short aristate peduncles. Calyx-teeth almost 

 equal, equalling or longer than the tube. Pod strongly " bossed," yellowish, 

 with 3 or 4 subglobular seeds. 



Casual in the crops, vineyards, and cultivated fields, and often cultivated. 

 May-July. 



