LEGUMINIFEILE. 85 



SPECIES 11— VI CI A TETRASPERMA. J/o/icA. 



Plate CCCLXXXIII. 



£ab. Man. Biit. Bot. ed. v. p. 83. 



V. tetraspenna, var. a, JIooL &. Am. Brit. FI. ed. viiL p. 113. Benth. Handbook Brit. 



Fl. p. 177. 

 Ervum tetraspermuni, Linn. Sm. Eng. Bot. No. 1223. Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ, et Helv. 



ed. ii. p. 218. Gr. & Godr. Fl. de Fr. Vol. I. p. 474. Lowe, Man. Fl. Mad. 



p. 198. 



Annual. Leaves with 3 to 5 pairs of elliptical-strapshaped or 

 linear leaflets, rounded or rounded-truncate and apiculate at the 

 apex ; common petiole terminating in a simple or once- or twice- 

 forked tendril. Lower stipules cleft into 2 lanceolate-acute lobes, 

 those of the upper leaves generally entire. Peduncles equal to or 

 shorter than the leaves, 1- to 2- or rarely 3-flowered. Calyx-tube not 

 gibbous on tbe upper side ; teeth unequal, triangular, rather shorter 

 than the tube. Flowers more than twice as long as the calyx. Pods 

 spreading, stipitate, cylindrical, very slightly compressed, rounded 

 at the apex where they are apiculate but not acuminated, usually 

 glabrous. Seeds generally 4, but from 3 to 5, globular, with the 

 hilum linear-oblong, between one-fourth and one-fifth the circum- 

 ference of the seed. 



In cornfields, waste places, hedges, and thickets. Not uncom- 

 mon in England, but rare in Scotland, where it has occurred in the 

 counties of Kirkcudbright, Lanark, Fife, and Forfar, though pro- 

 bably introduced at least in the two latter. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Annual. Spring to Autumn. 



Stems weak, branched or simple, climbing, 1 to 3 feet high. 

 Leaflets \ to \\ inch long, narrower in proportion than those of 

 V. hirsuta, and tapering more towards the apex, which is rounded. 

 Stipules with a single large subulate tooth, projecting on the inner 

 side, so that the form is half-hastate. Peduncles axillary, | to 1-^ 

 inch long, usually shortly awned at the apex. Pedicels rather 

 longer than the calyx, curved-spreading, not forming an angle with 

 the ilowers. Flowers \ inch long, whitish tinged with pale-blue, 

 in a raceme with usually 2 and often only 1 flower at the apex of 

 the peduncle. Calyx with the upper teeth shorter and broader 

 than the others. Standard scarcely spreading, not longer than the 

 wings, streaked with blue ; keel tij)ped with blue. Style hairy all 

 round at the apex. Pod ^ to f inch long, the depth about one- 

 fourth of the length, olive or olive-brown when ripe, slightly bos- 

 sulated by the seeds, on a gynophore about as long as the calyx, 



