VlCiA. 



reticulated, fmooth Native of Sicily, from whence it was 



feiit us by the baron Bivoiia Beniardi. Akin to feveral of 

 the foregoing, but decidedly dillindl. Root perennial. Stems 

 feveral, climbing, eighteen inches or more in height, fharply 

 angular, hairy like the reft of the herbage. Leaflets half or 

 three quarters of an inch long, pale green, rather hiky. 

 Flowers two, three, or four on each ftalk, light purplilh- 

 blue, much fhorter than thofe of V. Cracca. Cahx-teelh all 

 remarkably long, tapering, finely fringed. Legume an inch 

 and quarter long, half an inch broad, fiat, with four or five 

 feeds. 



ig.V .nijfoliana. Red Oriental Vetch. Linn. Sp. PI. 1036. 

 Willd. n. 17. Ait. n. 9. — Stalks ftiorter than the leaves, 

 with few flowers. Lciflels elliptic-oblong, obtufe, downy. 

 Stipulas lanceolate, entire. Legumes comprefTed, ovate- 

 oblong, filky — Native of the Levant. A hardy annual, faid 

 to have been firft introduced at Kew, in 1773, by the cele- 

 brated earl of Bute. The whole plant is downy, or fome- 

 what filky. ■ Leaflets an inch long, tapering at the bafe into 

 little partial ilalits. Stipulas narrow, undivided. Floivers 

 five or fix, dark purple, the fizeof the laft. Calyx-teeth long 

 and flender, but not quite fo long in proportion to the tube 

 as in that fpecies. Legume above an inch long, flat, very 

 filky, with four or five large prominent feeds. Linnasus 

 cultivated this fpecies at Upfal. We have never obferved 

 it ill any collection here. 



20. V. benghalenjis. Bengal Vetch. Linn. Sp. PI. 1036. 

 Willd. n. 18. Alt. n. 10. (V. benghalenfis, hirfuta et 

 iiicaua, filiquispifi ; Herni. Lugd.-Bat. 623. t. 625. Cracca 

 benghalenfis ; Rivin. Tetrap. Irr. t. 50. )— Stalks fliorter 

 than the leaves, about three-flowered. Leaflets cUiptic- 

 oblong, obtufe, downy. Stipulas lanceolate, entire. Le- 

 gume turgid, oblong, filky Native of Bengal, from whence 



lir Jofepli Banks procured feeds for the Kew garden, in 

 1792. An annual ftovc -plant, flowering in June and July. 

 Tins is nearly related to the laft, in general habit, pubefcence, 



Jlipulas, and ealyx ; but the Jlowers are fcarcely more than 

 three ; their petals longer, faid to be of a very deep fcarlet, 

 at leaft their upper ludf, the Lei tipped with black. We 

 have not feen tiiem, except dried. The legume differs eflen- 

 tially from the foregoing, having concave valves, like a 

 Pifum, with five large ToaaA feeds. 



21. V. canefcens. Hoary Syrian Vetch. Billard. Syr. 

 fafc. I. 17. t. 7. Willd. n. 19. Ait. n. 11.— Stalks 

 many-flowered, about the length of the leaves, which 

 fcarcely bear tendrils. Leaflets elliptic -lanceolate, downy. 

 Stipulas halfarrowfliaped. Legume turgid, oblong, filky. 

 — Gathered by La Billardiere, towards the fummit of mount 

 Lebanon, and by Sibthorp in Greece. Sir Jofeph Banks 

 fent feeds to Kew in 1800. If this and the two preceding 

 exift. at prefent, in any garden, they ought to be figured in 

 one, not both, of our periodical works. The prefent is 

 marked as a hardy annual, flowering in July and Auguft. 

 The whole herb is hoary with foft down. Stem ereft, a foot 

 or more in height, fquare, ftriated. Lower leaves numeroufly 

 pinnate, with an odd leaflet, in whofe place the upper ones 

 have only a ftiort ftraight point, or abortive tcndnl. Floivers 

 blue, full as large as the laft, and more numerous. Legume 



welling as in that, downy, but with fewer feeds. 



~J. V.capenjir. Cape Vetch. Berg. Cap. 2 15. Willd. 

 11. iO. Thunb. Prodr. 125. — Stalks elongated, many- 

 flowered. Leaves pinnate with an odd leaflet, without ten- 

 drils ; filky beneath. Stipulas lanceolate, undivided Native 



of the Cape of Good Hope. Perennial, j'/fm a fpan high, 

 ereft, angular, fmooth ; branched at the bafe ; the branches 

 (hort, procumbent. Leaflets about twenty-one, linear, 

 abrupt with a point, or flightly emarginate ; fmooth above ; 



fcarcely half fo long as the finger-nail. Stipulas membra- 

 nous, ovate or lanceolate, fimple and entire. Cluflers round 

 ifli, hairy, rather denfe, on long ftalks. Calyx-teeth lanceo" 

 late, acute, nearly equal. Bergius. Linnaus has made a 

 manufcript note in this author's book, faying " this plant 

 refembles Hippocrepis comofa, but it has a racemus, not an um- 

 bella. It cannot be a Vicia, becaufe of the odd leaflet." — 

 The laft remark is invalidated bv V. canefcens, n. 21. We 

 have feen no fpecimen, on which to found any opinion. 



23. V. pellucida. Tranfparent Vetch. Jacq. Hort. 



Schoenbr. v. 2. 50. t. 222. Willd. n. 21 Stalks fliorter 



than the leaves, with feveral flowers. Leaves pinnate with 

 an odd leaflet, without tendrils, downy. Stipulas lanceo- 

 late, undivided. Legume falcate, many-leeded — Native of 

 the Cape of Good Hope. Jacquin's figure anfwers fo well 

 to the remark of Linr.xus under the laft fpecies, that we 

 are much inchned to think the prelent is the very fame 

 plant. Willdenow indeed, who had feen a dried ipecimen 

 of the former, thought them diftinft ; but he indicates no 

 material difference. They/oa'^rj of Jacquin's plant have a 

 roundifti, elegantly ftriated, Jlandard, with purple luings and 

 ieel. The legume is comprefl^ed, curved, near two inches 

 long, with ten or more feeds, feparated by tranfverfe ftric- 

 tures. Bergius has not defcribed the fruit of his plant. 



24. V.fruticofa. Willd. n. 22. (Lathyrus tomentofus ; 

 Cavan. Ic. v. i. 58. t. 84. Orobus tomentofus; Desfont. 

 Tabl. 224.) — Stalks fhorter than the leaves, two-flowered. 

 Leaves abruptly pinnate, without tendrils, downy. Stipulas 

 awl-lhaped, undivided. Legume ftraight, downy, many- 

 feeded. — Found on hills near Huanuco, in Peru. A flirub, 

 flowering in the Madrid garden from July to November. 

 The Jlem is two feet high, with numerous, drooping, downy, 

 round branches. Leaflets about twenty pair, elliptical, uni- 

 form, entire, a quarter of an inch long, without an odd one, 

 or any terminal point. Floivers yellow, in fhape and fize 

 not unlike the laft, nor is the legume very diflimilar, except 

 being ilraight, and gradually dilated upwards. — We feci 

 little confidence as to the genus of this plant, but a certain 

 refemblance to the two laft, notvvithftanding the want of an 

 odd leaflet, induces us to retain it here. Perhaps they might 

 all three, if all diltinft, be removed from Ficia, and on 

 more complete examination and comparifon, might form a 

 genus. 



25. V. biflora. Two-flowered Sharp-leaved Vetch. Des- 

 font. Atlant. v. 2. 166. t. 197. Willd. n. 24. Ait. n. 13. 

 — Stalks two-flowered, fliorter than the leaves. Leaflets 

 linear, tapering at each end. Tendrils divided. Stipulas 

 half-arrowfliaped. — Native of Algiers. A hardy annual, 

 fent to Kew, by M. Thouin, in 1801, flowering from June 

 to Auguft. The Jlem is flender, angular, procumbent. 

 Leaflets eight or ten, alternate, very narrow. Stipulas mi- 

 nute, occafionally toothed. Stalks flender, bearing one or 

 two rather large, oblong, hhxe Jlotvers, and tipped with a 

 fmall point. Calyx-teeth rather fhort. Corolla moft hke 

 V. benghalenjis, or biennis, in fliape and dimenfions. 



26. V. ciliaris. Fringed Vetch. Sm. Prodf. Fl. Grxc. 

 Sibth. n. 1706. Fl. Grasc. t. 700, unpubhflied. — Stalks 

 fingle-flowered, pointed, as long as the leaves. Leaflets 

 emarginate. Stipulas ki man)' fetaceous fegments. — Ga- 

 thered by Dr. Sibthorp in Afia Minor, probably near 

 Smyrna. We know not whether the root be annual or 

 perennial. Thejlems are weak, chmbing, two or three feet 

 long, branched, angular. Leaflets about feven pair, half an 

 inch long, fmooth. Tendrils many. cleft. Stipulas lunate, 

 very remarkable for their numerous, fpreading, almoft ca- 

 pillary, fegments. Point of the flower -ftalk elongated three- 

 quarters of an inch beyond the flower, which is therefore 



lateral, 



