VINES 449 



Flowers, \ inch long, in i- sided, crowded, axillary, long- 

 peduncled spikes. 



Found not infrequently along roadsides and in borders of 

 thickets, where its bright blue flowers are conspicuous. From 

 New England to New Jersey and westward. 



i6 



V. Carolinihria has smaller, more thinly clustered flowers 

 than the blue vetch, with whitish blossoms, the keel tipped 

 vvith blue, and 8 to 24 obtuse, oblong leaflets. 



17 

 V. Americd.na has rather large, purplish flowers, 4 to 8 in a 

 spike, with leaves of 5 to 7 pairs of very abrupt, ovate, or ob- 

 long leaflets. 



18. Butterfly-pea 



Clitoria Hlarihna. — Family, Pulse. Color, light blue. 

 Leaves, of 3 leaflets, each on separate stalks. Stipules and 

 bracts long, thin. Time, July. 



Corolla, papilionaceous, large, handsome, 2 inches long. 

 Pod, knotty and long, tipped with the base of the style ; i to 

 3 flowers, borne on a common, short peduncle. 



The plant climbs by twining, or is self-sustaining. In dry soil, 

 from New York to Florida and westward. 



19. Ground-nut. Wild Bean 



kplos tuberosa (a " pear," from the shape of the tubers). 

 Family, Pulse. Color, brownish-purple or chocolate. Leaves, 

 divided into 3 to 7 long, narrow, pointed leaflets with small 

 stipules. Time, August into September. 



Calyx, slightly 2-lipped, the 2 upper teeth short, the 2 lat- 

 eral ones nearly invisible, the lower one long. Corolla, papil- 

 ionaceous, with a broad, turned -back standard, and scythe- 



2g 



