Genus 40. 



PEA FAMILY. 



409 



I. Vicia Cracca L. Tufted or Cow Vetch. 

 Blue or Bird Vetch. Fig. 2613. 

 Vicia Cracca L. Sp. PI. 735. 1753- 



Perennial, finely pubescent or sometimes glabrate, 

 stems tufted, slender, weak, climbing or trailing, 

 2°-4° long. Stipules linear, acute, entire, i "-4" long; 

 leaves nearly sessile ; leaflets 8-24, thin, linear or 

 linear-oblong, obtuse or acutish, mucronate, 8"-lo" 

 long, ii"-2" wide; peduncles axillary, shorter than 

 or equalling the leaves ; spike-like racemes dense, 

 secund, 1-4' long; flowers bluish-purple, sometimes 

 white, 5"-6" long, refiexed ; pod short-stalked, gla- 

 brous, 9"-i2" long, about 3" wide, S-8-seeded. 



In dry soil, Newfoundland to British Columbia, New 

 York, New Jersey, Kentucky, Iowa and Washington. 

 Also in Europe and Asia. Tinegrass. Cat-peas. Canada- 

 pea. June-Aug. 



Vicia villosa Roth, is a similar Old World species, 

 but villous-2,ubescent, annual or biennial in duration, 

 and with larger flowers, locally spontaneous after culti- 

 vation for fodder. 



2. Vicia americana Muhl. American or Pur- 

 ple Vetch. Pea Vine. Fig. 2614. 



Vicia americana Muhl. ; Willd. Sp. PI. 3 : 1096. 1803. 



Perennial, glabrous or with some appressed pubes- 

 cence, trailing or climbing, 2°-3° long. Leaves 

 nearly sessile ; stipules broad, f oliaceous, triangular- 

 ovate, sharply toothed, 2"-$" long; leaflets 8-14, 

 elliptic, ovate or oblong, obtuse or sometimes emar- 

 ginate and mucronulate at the apex, rounded at the 

 base, 8"-i8" long, 3"-7" wide; peduncles usually 

 shorter than the leaves ; racemes loose, 2-9-flowered ; 

 flowers bluish-purple, 8"-9" long, spreading; pod 

 short-stalked, glabrous, I'-ii' long, 4-7-seeded. 



In moist ground, New Brunswick to Ontario, Manitoba 

 and British Columbia. New York, Virginia, Kentucky 

 and Arizona. Leaflets of lower leaves sometimes narrow. 

 Ascends to 3500 ft. in Virginia. M'ay-Aug. Buffalo-pea. 



Vicia oregana Nutt. (V. truncata Nutt.), with obovate 

 or oblong leaflets truncate and dentate at the apex, widely 

 distributed in western North America, enters our area in 

 Kansas and Nebraska. 



3. Vicia sparsifolia Nutt. Narrow-leaved 

 American Vetch. Fig. 2615. 



Vicia sparsifolia Nutt. ; T. & G. Fl. N. A. i : 270- 1838. 

 Lathyrus linearis Nutt. ; T. & G. Fl. N. A. i : 276- 1838. 

 Vicia americana var, linearis S. Wats. Proc. Am. II : 134. 



1876. 

 Vicia linearis Greene, Fl. Francis. 3. 1891. 



Perennial, glabrous or nearly so, stems weak, often 

 zigzag, i°-2° long. Leaflets 4-7 pairs, narrowly linear 

 to linear-oblong. 9"-i8" long, ¥'-2" wide, rather 

 thick, acute or obtusish, the apex not toothed, mucro- 

 nate ; stipules 2"-4" fong, half-sagittate, acuminate, 

 their bases prolonged, sometimes dentate ; peduncles 

 shorter than the leaves, or about equalling them ; 

 racemes loose, 2-6-flowered ; flowers purple or pur- 

 plish, about 9" long ; pod about i' long, 3" wide or 

 rather more, glabrous, short-stalked. 



In dry soil, Manitoba to British Columbia, South Da- 

 kota, Kansas, New Mexico and California. Perhaps a 

 narrow-leaved race of V, americana. May-Aug. 



