PAPILTONACE^. 179 



side, -with a few short hairs on the opposite side. Pod glabrous, about an 

 iuch long. Seeds few, half encircled by the long, linear hilum. 



In woods and shady places, and hedges, extending over Europe and 

 Russian Asia, from the Mediterranean to tlie Arctic Circle. Common in 

 Britain. JFl. all summer. 



7. Yello'w Vetch. Vicia lutea, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 481.) 



A glabrous or slightly hairy annual, said however by some to form a 

 perennial rootstock ; the stems spreading, branched, usually low, but 

 sometimes ascending to a foot or more. Stipules, foliage, and sohtary 

 flowers of the common V., but the corolla is of a pale yeUow, and the 

 rather broad pods are reflexed, and covered with long hairs. Seeds few, 

 with a short hilum. 



In dry, stony, waste or cultivated places, in central and southern 

 Europe to the Caucasus, not extending into northern Germany. In Britain, 

 chiefly near the sea in southern England, and again on the rocky coasts of 

 eastern Scotland, probably introduced with ballast. Not recorded from 

 Ireland. Fl. early summer. 



8. Common Vetch. Vicia sativa, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 334. V. Imngata, Eng. Bot. t. 483.) 



An annual or biennial, glabrous or hairy ; the stems short and spreading, 

 or nearly erect, or almost climbing, 1 to 2 feet high. Stipules toothed, and 

 usually marked by a dark spot in the centre. Leaflets usually 4 to 7 to 

 each leaf, varying from obcordate or obovate to narrow-linear, the tendrils 

 usually branched. Flowers sessile and solitary, or rarely two together in 

 the axUs of the leaves, usually large, of a reddish or bluish purple. Pod 

 glabrous, 1 to 2 inches long, rather narrow, with 10 to 12 smooth, globular 

 seeds. 



In dry pastures, open woods, and waste places, throughout Europe and 

 Russian Asia, and having been long cultivated for forage, is now widely 

 spread over the temperate regions of the globe. Fl. spring and early summer. 

 In the cultivated state the stems are 1 to 2 feet high, the leaflets usually 

 broad, and the flowers large ; in the more common wild form, often distin- 

 guished as a species, under the name of V. angtistifolia (Eng. Bot. Suppl. 

 t. 2614), the leaflets are narrower, and flowers rather smaller ; and the low 

 spreading variety, published as V. Bobartii (Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2708), is 

 only to be distinguished from the spring V. by the smooth seeds, and some- 

 what larger flowers and pods. 



9. Spring Vetch. Vicia lathyroides, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 30.) 



A low spreading annual or biennial, glabrous or nearly so ; the stems 

 branching at the base, seldom 6 inches long ; the fohage, solitary flower, and 

 general appearance those of the smaller specimens of the common V. ; the 

 flowers are however smaller, usually of a richer purple, the calyx less de- 

 cidedly obhque at the base, and the pod 'seldom an inch long. The seeds 

 are also rough with raised dots, a distinction beheved to be constant. 



In dry pastures, open woods, banks, etc., over the whole of Europe, 

 except the extreme north, extending eastward to the Caucasus. Not un- 

 common in England, Ireland, and the greater part of Scotland. Fl. spring. 



b 



