180 THE PEAFLOWEE TEIBE. 



10. Bithynian Vetch. Vicia bithynicaj Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1842.) 



A glabrous or slightly downy annual, with weak angular stems, 1 to 2 

 feet long. Leaves more Uke those of a Pea than of a Vetch, having usually 

 only two pairs of leaflets, obovate in the lowest leaves, oblong or lanceolate 

 and above an inch long in the others, the tendrils branched. Stipules rather 

 broad and tootlied. Flowers solitary or two together, on peduncles some- 

 times very short, sometimes half as long as the leaves, rather large, of a bluish 

 purple with very pale wings, and shaped like those of the coinmon V. Style 

 ■with a tuft of hairs under the stigma on the outer side. Pod 1 to I5 inches 

 long, about 4 Unes broad, usually more or less hairy. Seeds 4 to 6. 



In bushy or stony waste places, chiefly near the sea, but spreading inland 

 as a cornfleld weed, in southern Europe to tlie Caucasus, extending up 

 western France to Bordeaux, and reappearing in the south-western counties 

 of England. Fl. summer. 



XVIII. PEA. LATHTHUS. 



Herbs, with weak stems, sometimes chmbing, and half-sagittate or sagittate 

 stipules ; the leaves usually pinnate, with few leaflets larger than in the 

 Vetches, the common leafstalk ending in a simple or branched tendril or in 

 a small point, the leaflets sometimes wanting. Flowers solitary or in ra- 

 cemes, on axillary pedurcles, purple, red, white, or bright yellow. Petals 

 usually broad, especially the standard. UiDper stamen free, or more fre- 

 quently connected with the others, at least in the middle. Style flattened 

 below the stigma, quite glabrous on the outer side, but more or less downy 

 on the umer face for some way below the stigma. Pod cylindrical or flat- 

 tened. Seeds several, usually globular or angular. 



A considerable genus, with the wide geographical range of the Vetches, 

 difiering from them chiefly by the style, and, in most cases, by the fewer 

 and longer leaflets and broader petals. The calyx is usually more obhque, 

 the upper teeth shorter than the lower ones. Several species are very apt to 

 dry black, which is seldom the case with the Vetches. 



IJeqfsfalJcg without real leaflets. 



Stipules large and leaf-like. Leafstalk a mere tendril. Flowers 



yellow 2. Yellow P. 



Stipules none. Leafstalkflattened, resembling a grass-leaf. Flow- 

 ers pale red 1. Grass P. 



Leaves with one pair of leaflets. 



Annual, with small red flowers. Pods hairy 3. Hough F. 



Perennial, with large red or purplish flowers. Pods glabrous . . 5. Enerlasting P. 



Perennial, ^v^th yellow flowers. Pods glabrous 4. Meadow P. 



Leaves with two or more pairs of leaflets. 



Stipules deeply divided Sithynian Vetch, 



Stipules entire. 



Leafstalk ending in a simple or branched tendril. 

 Leaflets lanceolate. Stipules narrow, half-sagittate .... 6. Marsh P. 

 Leaflets ovate or elliptical. Stipules large, broadly ovate, 



sagittate 7.' Sea P. 



Leafstalk ending in a short fine point. 



Leaflets 2 or 3 pairs, rarely 4 pairs, lanceolate or linear . . 8. Tuberotis P. 

 Leaflets 5 or 6 pairs, rarely 4 pairs, ovate 9. £lack P. 



The Sicihan siceet Pea, the Tangiers Pea, the South American Anson's 

 Pea, and some other exotic species, are cultivated in our flower-gardens. 

 The Pea of our kitchen-gardens and fields is usually distinguished as a genus, 



