PAPILIONACE^. 177 



shape of the flowers, give it a peculiar aspect easily recognized. The 

 staruinal tube is usuaEy much more obhque at the top than in Peas. 



Leaflets above an inch long, 1 or 2 pairs to each leaf 10. Bithynian V. 



Leaflets more than 2 pairs to each leaf, nsually small. 

 Peditncles elongated (at least half as long a^ the leaf) . 



Flowers few and small, on slender peduncles. Pod scarcely 6 

 lines long. 

 Plant glabrous or nearly so. Pod with 4 to 6 seeds ... .2. Slender V. 



Plant hairy. Pod with 3 seeds 1. Hairy V. 



Flowers at least 6 lines long. Pod an inch or more. 



Leafstalks ending in a short point. Racemes short and close. 



Plant quite glabrous, drying black. Stipules quite entire . . Black Pea. 



Plant slightly hairy. Stipules usual y toothed 5. Upright V. 



Leafstalks ending in a tendril. Eacemes long. 

 Flowers white, with purplish veins. Stipules deeply divided 



at the base 4. Wood V. 



Flowers of a rich purple-blue. Stipules mostly enl ire ... .3. Tufted Y. 

 peduncles not longer than the cah/x, orjlowers quite sessile. 



Flowers pale yellow. Pod hairy . " 7. Yellow V. 



Flowers purp e, blue or red. Pod glabrous. 



Flowers 3 or 4 together, shortly stalked 6. Btish Y, 



Flowers sessile, solitary or rarely two together. 



Flowers large. Seeds smooth 8. Common V. 



Flowers small. Seeds grantilated 9. Spring V. 



1. Hairy Vetch. Vicia hirsuta, Xoch. 

 {Ervum, Eng. Bot. t. 970.) 



A more or less hairy annual, with aleiider, weak stems, 1 to 3 feet long, 

 often climbing by means of the branched tendrDs. Stipules small, narrow, 

 often divided. Leaflets small, oblong, 6 to 8 pairs to each leaf. Peduncles 

 slender, with very few, usually 2 or 3, insignificant, pale blue flowers, the 

 fine teeth of the calyx almost as long as the standard. Style glabrous. 

 Pod nearly 6 lines long, flat and hairy, containing two slightly compressed 

 seeds, with a long, linear hilum. 



In hedges, cornfields, and waste places, common in Europe and Russian 

 Asia, from the Mediterranean to tlie Arctic Circle. Extends all over 

 Britain, but said to be rare in the Highlands of Scotland. Fl. the whole 

 summer, 



2. Slender Vetch. Vicia tetrasperma, Moench. 

 (Ervum, Eng. Bot. t. 1223.) 



A slender annual, glabrous or nearly so, the weak stems often chmbing, 

 from 6 inches to near 2 feet long. Leaflets narrow, the lower ones obtuse, 

 3 to 6 pairs in each leaf, the tendrils simple or branched. Pedimcles 

 slender, with 1 to 6 or 7 pale bluish flowers, longer than in the hairy V., 

 but much smaller than in any other British Vetch, seldom exceeding 3 lines. 

 Calyx-teeth much shorter than the standard. Pod flat, not above 6 lines 

 long, usually containing about 4 seeds, but sometimes 5 or 6. 



In fields, hedges, and waste places, all over temperate Europe and Russian 

 Asia. Not uncommon in England, more rare in Scotland and Ireland. 

 Fl. the whole summer. A variety with more pointed leaflets, and with the 

 number of seeds more fi-equently 5 or 6, has been distinguished under the 

 name of V. gracilis (Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 290i). 



3. Tufted Vetch. Vicia Cracca, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1168.) 

 Kbotstock perennial, the annual stems weak, and climbing by means of 



