BY DR. M. B. BORKHAUSEN.. 217 



Having observed this plant for several years in 

 various soils, in high and low situations, the result 

 of all my observations has been, that it is merely a 

 variety of Orobus tuberosus. All the above distin- 

 guishing characters which the authors attribute to 

 it, and which indeed are chiefly taken from relative 

 qualities, such as length and width, are not suffi- 

 cient to establish it as a species. I am possessed 

 of specimens of all shapes, with leaves broad-lan- 

 ceolate, nearly oval, going over by slow degrees 

 to very narrow and nearly capillary, so as to make 

 it impossible for words to convey a clear idea of 

 the different gradations. Several observations made 

 by me upon the Bergstrass-mountains (which from 

 the foot to the highest summits are equally covered 

 with a stratum of fine argillaceous earth, producing 

 this plant in abundance^, have proved the truth of 

 this assertion. At the foot of these mountains it 

 is found with lanceolate, and nearly oval leaves; as 

 we ascend higher, the leaflets are seen to become 

 gradually longer and narrower, and the stalk more 

 delicate ; upon the summits of the Knotenheimcr 

 H'dhe, an elevation of about 1800 feet above the 



