BLUE AND PURPLE GROUP 



fields from New England to New Jersey and southward. 

 Cultivated for fodder. 



V. tetrasperma. — Weak-stemmed, \ to 2 feet long. Leaflets, 

 short-petioled, 4 to 6 pairs, linear. Pods, 4-seeded. Flowers, on 

 long peduncles, equaling the leaves. May to September. 



Waste places and meadows, New England to Virginia. 

 Hairy Vetch or Tare 



V. hirsute. — Color, pale purplish blue or white. Peduncles, long, 

 bearing 3 to 6 flowers in the axils. Leaflets, 12 to 14, one or more 

 tendrils at the apex. May to September. 



In fields and waste places. New England to Florida and 

 westward. 



Beach Pea 



Lathyrus maritimus. — Family, Pulse. Color, purple. Corolla, 

 papilionaceous. Flowers, nearly an inch long, in panicles. Leaves, 

 of 6 to 10 leaflets, with halberd-shaped stipules, nearly as large 

 as the leaflets. Stems, stout, trailing or climbing by means of 

 tendrils, coarse, spreading in a low clump; slovenly-looking, be- 

 cause the flowers quickly give way to the pods, on the ends of 

 which the faded corolla clings. June to September. 



Seashores from Long Island southward. 



Marsh Pea. Marsh Vetchling 



L. palustris. — Color, light purplish blue. Corolla, papiliona- 

 ceous. Flowers, about J inch long, delicate and pretty, 4 or 

 5 together. Leaves, compound, with 2 to 4 pairs of long and nar- 

 row leaflets, all with long stipules, acute at both ends. Tendrils 

 found on some, but not all of the leaves. Stem, weak and trailing, 

 1 to 3 feet long. July. 



Common from New Jersey westward and southward. (See 

 illustration, p. 318.) 



Milk Pea 



Galactia regulkris — Family, Pulse. Color, purple. Calyx, 4- 

 divided. Corolla, papilionaceous. Pod, flat, hairy, with several 

 seeds. There are also ripened a few subterranean, fleshy pods. 

 Flowers, in large, handsome racemes, irregular, 4 to 8 in a raceme. 

 Stem, prostrate, nearly smooth. Leaves, of 3 oblong to elliptical 

 leaflets. 



In dry woods or sandy soil, near the coast, New York to 

 Florida. 



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