220 XL VII. LEGUMINOSJE. VICIA. 



Hirsute. (J) A well known garden flower, native of Sicily. The flowers ap- 

 pear in June, are large, variegated with red and white. Very fragrant. 



8. L. sATlvus. Chick Pea. Peduncles 1-flowered ; Ifts. 2 4 ; leg. ovate, 

 compressed, with 2 winged margins at the back. (J) Native of S. Europe, 

 where it has been sometimes cultivated for food ; but it proves to be a slow poison 

 both to man and beast, producing ultimately entire helplessness, by rendering 

 the limbs rigid, but without pain. 



2. VICIA. 



Celtic gwig, whence Gr. ffiKiov, Lat. vicia, Fr. vesce, and Eng. vetch. 



Calyx tubular, with the 3 inferior segments straight and longer 

 than the 2 above; vexillmn emarginate ; stamens 10, diadelphous 

 (9 and 1) ; style filiform, bent at right angles with the ovary, villous 

 beneath the stigma on the outside (next the keel) ; legume oblong, 

 several-seeded. Herbaceous, mostly climbing. Leaves abruptly pin- 

 nate, with several pairs of leaflets and a branching tendril. Peduncles 

 axillary. 



1. V. AMERICANA. Muhl. American Vetch. 



Smooth ; ped. 4 8-flowered, shorter than the leaves ; slip, semi-sagittate, 

 deeply dentate ; Ifts. 10 14, elliptic-lanceolate, obtuse, mucronate, veined, some- 

 what alternate ; legumes oblong-linear, compressed, reticulated. N. Y. W. to 

 the R. Mts. Stems slender, 1 3f long. Leaflets 1' by 5", subsessile. Flow- 

 ers blue or purple. Lower calyx teeth broad-lanceolate, much longer than the 

 2 upper. Style very hairy at the summit. May. 



2. V. CAROLINIANA. Walt. Carolinian Vetch. 



Ped. many-flowered ; fls. distant ; teeth of the calyx shorter than the tube, 

 the two upper very short ; sty. hairy at the summit ; Ifts. 8 12, linear-oblong, 

 smoothish ; leg. not reticulated, oblong. Woods and river banks. A slender 

 climber, 4 6f long. Leaflets about 8" by 23". Flowers pale-blue, the ban- 

 ner tipped with deep purple. May. 



3. V. CRACCA. Tufted Vetch. 



Fls. in imbricated spikes ; Ifts. lanceolate, pubescent ; slip, semi-sagit- 

 tate, linear- subulate, entire. A slender climber, 2 3f long, about fences, 

 hedges, thickel^ &c., lat. 39 to Can. Stem square, downy. Leaves of many 

 pairs of downy, mucronate leaflets, with a branched tendril at the end of the 

 principal stalk. Leaflets 6 8" by 2 3", petiolulate. Flowers blue and purple, 

 in a long, dense, one-sided raceme. July. 



4. V. TETRASPERMA. Loisel. (V. pusilla. Muhl. Ervum. Linn.') Slen- 

 der Vetch. 



Ped. about 2-flowered ; calyx teeth lanceolate, shorter than the tube ; leg. 

 smooth, 4-seeded; Ifts. 4 6, small, linear; stip. lanceolate, semi-sagittate. (p 

 Slender and delicate plants, banks of streams, &c., Can. to Penn. Stems al- 

 most filiform, 1 2f long. Leaflets 5 10" by 1", acute or obtuse. Flowers 

 very small, bluish- white, on filiform peduncles. Legumes 4 6" long, 4, some- 

 times 5-seeded. Jl. 



5. V. SATIVA. Common Vetch. Tares. 



Fls. solitary or in pairs, subsessile ; Ifts. 10 12, oblong-obovate, often 

 linear, retuse, mucronate ; stip. semi-sagittate, subdentate, dotted ; kg. erect, 

 roundish, reticulated, smooth. () A slender, climbing plant, found in cultivat- 

 ed fields, introduced from Europe. Stem decumbent or climbing, 2 3f long. 

 Leaflets 8 12" by 1 4", lower ones near the base of the petiole. Flowers 

 pale purple, half as long as the leaves. Legumes 1 2' long. Jn. 



6. V. FABA. Willd. (Faba vulgaris. Masnch.) Coffee Bean. Windsor Bean, 

 fyc. St. rigidly erect, with axillary, many-flowered racemes ; Ifts. 2 4, oval, 

 entire, mucronate or acute ; tendrils obsolete ; stip. semi-sagittate, dentate at 

 base. Native of Egypt. This species is frequently found in gardens, but not 

 so much admired as 'formerly for the table. Stem simple, 1 2f high. Flow 



