PEA FAMILY 



13' 



flat, breaking up into 3—6 i-seeded horseshoe-shaped joints. 

 (Name from the Greek Idppos, a horse, kieph, a shoe.) 



I. H. combsa (Tufted Horseshoe-vetch). — The onl)- British 

 species, a nearly prostrate plant, with long, much-branched stems, 



and umbellate heads of 6 — 



woody at the base ; leaflets 7- 

 10 yellow flowers. It might be 

 mistaken for LiUus corniculdtiis ; 

 but the pinnate lea^'es and pods 

 resembling a series of horse-shoes, 

 united by their extremities, serve 

 to distinguish it. — Chalky banks 

 in the south of England. — Fl. 

 May — August. Perennial. 



17. O.xoBRVCHis (Sainfoin). — 

 Herbs ; leaves imparipinnate ; 

 stipules membranous ; flowers in 

 axillary spikes or racemes; 

 stamens diadelphous : pod com- 

 pressed, indehisccnt, straight, i- 

 seeded. (Name from the Greek 

 unos, an ass, brucho, I bray.) 



I. O. vieiafolia (Common Sain- 

 foin, Cock's-hcad). — The only 

 British species, a handsome plant ; 

 pubescent with adprcsscd hairs; 

 stems I — 2 feet long, ascending 

 stout; leaflets 17 — 25, oblong 

 apiculate ; flowers in ovoid, co n- 

 pact racemes, rosj'-red, with darker 

 veins ; pod semicircular, toothed 

 along its lower (curved) margin. — 

 Chalky and limestone hills, per- 

 haps indigenous in the south-east 

 of England ; but often cultivated 

 as fodder. — Fl. June — August. 

 Perennial. 



18. VfciA (Vetch). — Herbs, generally climbing by the tendrils 

 which terminate their paripinnate leaves ; leaflets generally many ; 

 flowers in axillary racemes ; stamens diadelphous ; style thread- 

 like, with a small ring of down near the extremity, or a tuft on 

 the under side; pod compressed, 2-valved. (Name, the classical 

 Latin name, originally derived, according to Theis, from Keltic 

 gwig : German J]'icki/!, Greek bikion, French vesee.) 



K2 



jr.R\'CHlS \'ICl.EFOLIA 

 iyoiifinon Sainjoin). 



