SWEET MILK VETCH.— Jsfra^alu6^ 

 ghjcuijhjlliis. 



Class DiADELPHiA. Order Decandria. Nat. Onl, Leguminos^. 

 Pea and Bean Tribe. 



Should a person unaccustomed to this plant 

 find the leaves in April, when as yet it had not 

 blossomed, he Avould probably think that the 

 green spray was some seedling from the tree 

 of our gardens, called the False Acacia, for it 

 much resembles it. The foliage is larger than 

 that of any of our wild vetches. The plant 

 grows in woods and thickets, chiefly on a 

 gravelly or calcareous soil, and the dingy yellow 

 butterfly-shaped flowers appear in May. The 

 stem is prostrate, extending two or three feet 

 over the ground, and the pods in which the 

 seeds are enclosed are about an inch long, 

 and curved in shape. This Milk Vetch is rare 

 in Scotland, and found more in the neighbour- 

 hood of Edinburgh than elsewhere ; nor is it 

 a very frequent English flower, for though 

 abundant in some rural districts, it is quite 

 unknown in many. The flavour of the stems 

 and leaves is sweetish, but bitter. The plant 

 is apparently disliked by cattle, as they leave 



