LEGUMINIFER^. Ill 



base, narrowly winsrcd. Leaves with 2 to 3 (rarely 4) pairs of ovate- 

 elliptical, elliptical, oblong, or linear-oblong niucronate leaflets ; 

 common petiole terminating in a setaceous point. Stipules lance- 

 olate, half-sagittate at the base, with a triangular-acute auricle. 

 Peduncles longer than or equal to the leaves, 2- to 6-flowered. 

 Plowers drooping, in a lax raceme. 3 lower calyx-teeth ovate- 

 acuminate, shorter than the tube ; the iipper pair much shorter, 

 and directed upwards. Corolla three times as long as the calyx. 

 Pods oblong-linear, sub-cylindrical, slightly compressed. Seeds 

 globular, smooth ; hilum about one-fourth the circumference of 



the seed. 



Var. a, gemdmis. 



Leaflets varying from oval-elliptical to elliptical or oblong. 

 Var. 3, tenuifolius. 



Orobus tenuifolius, Eoth. FL Germ. Vol. I. p. 305. 



Leaflets varying from strap-shaped to linear. 



In woods and thickets, amongst heath and in grassy places. 

 Very common, and generally distributed. Var. ^ not so frequent 

 as var. a, 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Spring and Summer. 



Rootstock black, with enlargements at intervals from the size 

 of a pea to that of a small cherry. Stems 8 to 18 inches high. 

 Leaflets in var. a 1 to 2 inches long, blunt or suddenly acuminate 

 at the apex — in 3, sometimes 3 inches long, tapering gradually 

 and very acute. Stipules ^ to f inch long. Peduncles 1 to 5 inches 

 long. Plowers |^ to f inch long, pale dull-crimson fading to blue, 

 and at length tinged with green. Pods sessile, spreading or slightly 

 reflesed, 1:1 to 2 inches long, black when ripe, nearly as wide as the 

 depth between the sutures. Seeds i inch in diameter, reddish- 

 brown, slightly shining. Plant deep-green, slightly glaucous, espe- 

 cially on the under side of the leaves, glabrous, or with a few short 

 scattered hairs on the stipules. 

 This plant usually (but not always) turns black in drying. 



Tuberous Sitter Fetch. 



French, Orobe tubereux. German, Berg Plalterbse. 



SPECIES XL— LATH YRUS NIGER. Wimm. 

 Plate CCCCVII. 

 Orobus niger, Linn. Hook, in Eng. Bot. Sup. No. 2788. Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ, et 

 Helv. ed. ii. p. 226. Fries, Sum. Veg. Scand. p. 4G. 



