156 LEGUMINOS^. Vicia. 



•• Flowers nearly sessile. 



4. Vicia sativa, Linn. Common Vetch or Tare. 



Stem simple ; leaflets 6-12, varying from obovatc-oblong to linear, retuse, mucronate ; 

 stipules semisagittate, toothed ; flowers solitary or in pairs ; calyx cylindrical , the segments 

 as long as the tube, lanceolate-subulate, nearly equal ; style short, bearded at the summit ; 

 legumes somewhat erect, torulose ; seeds smooth. — Engl hot. t. 234 ; Michx. Jl. 2. p. 69 ; 

 Purshy fl. 2. p. 270 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 360 ; B^el. jl. Bost. p. 270 ; Hook. Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. 

 p. 157 ; Beck, hot. p. 89 ; Darlingt. ft. Cest. p. 425 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. I. p. 272. 



Plant somewhat pubescent, annual. Stem a foot or more high, erect or decumbent. Leaf- 

 lets about an inch long, conspicuously mucronate, ihc lower ones strongly retuse. Stipules 

 usually marked with a dark spot. Tendrils branched. Flowers half an inch long, pale violet- 

 purple. Legume 1 - 2 inches long, compressed, reticulated, slightly hairy, S - 10-seeded. 

 Seeds orbicular, compressed, nearly black when ripe. 



Fields, waste places, etc. ; introduced from Europe. June - July. 



Two varieties of this plant arc cultivated in Europe, under the names of Winter Tare and 

 Summer Tare. They yield valuable herbage for cattle. 



2. ERVUM. Town. ; Endl. gen. 6580. TARE. 



[ Said to be derived from the Celtic word cric, a ploughed field ; some of its species being troublesome weeds ] 



Calyx deeply 5-cleft ; the segments nearly equal, linear, acute, about the length of the corolla. 

 Style filiform, pubescent on the sides or all around below the stigma. Legume oblong, 

 2 - 4-seeded. Seeds orbiculeir or globose. — Annual plants. Leaflets usually numerous. 

 Petioles terminating in tendrils. Peduncles axillary. 



1. Ervum htrsutum, Linn. (Plate XXI.) Hairy Tare. 



Leaves linear or linear-oblong, truncate or retuse, slightly mucronate ; peduncles 3-6- 

 flowered, about the length of the leaves ; calyx hairy, the subulate segments rather shorter 

 than the corolla ; legumes oblong, obliquely truncate, 2-seeded, drooping. — Engl. hot. t. 971 ; 

 Torr. compend. p. 264 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 366 ; Beck, hot. t. 89 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 426 ; 

 Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 158 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 273. Vicia Mitchelli, Raf. 

 prec. decouv. p. 37 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 224 ; DC. I. c. p. 360. 



Annual. Stem branching, weak, climbing, 2-3 feet long, nearly smooth. Leaflets 8 - 20, 

 about half an inch long and a line wide, narrow at the base. Stipules semisagittate, entire or 

 cleft. Flowers very small, bluish-white. Legume scarcely half an inch long, torulose. Seeds 

 nearly spherical, brownish. 



Banks of rivers and thickets ; common in the neighborhood, usually near salt water, and 

 m company with Vicia tetrasperma. Probably an introduced plant. 



