Vicia.] XXV. PAPILIONACEiE. 121 



it a peculiar aspect easily recognised. The staminal tube is usually 

 much more oblique at the top than in Lathyrus. The common Bean is a 

 Vicia supposed to be a variety produced by cultivation of the south 

 European V. narhonensis. 



Leaflets above an inch long, 1 or 2 pairs to each leaf . . .10. V. bithynica. 

 Leaflets more than 2 pairs to each leaf, usually small. 

 Peduncles elongated (at least half as long as the leaf). 

 Mowers few and small, on slender peduncles. Pod scarcely 

 6 lines long. 

 Plant glabrous or nearly so. Pod with 4 to 6 seeds . . 2. V. tetrasperma. 



Plant hairy. Pod with 2 seeds 1. V. hirsuta. 



Flowers at least 6 lines long. Pod an inch or more. 

 Leafstalks ending in a short point. Racemes short and close. 

 Plant quite glabrous, drying black. Stipules quite entire Lathyrus niger. 

 Plant slightly hairy. Stipules usually toothed . . . 5. V. Orobus. 

 Leafstalks ending in a tendril. Racemes long. 

 Flowers white, with purplish veins. Stipules deeply 



divided at the base 4. V. sylvatica. 



Flowers of a rich purple blue. Stipules mostly entire . 3. V. Cracca. 

 Peduncles not longer than the calyx, or flowers quite sessile. 



Flowers pale yellow. Pod hairy 7. V. lutea. 



Flowers purple, blue, or red. Pod glabrous. 

 Flowers 3 or 4 together, shortly stalked . . . . 6. V. sepium. 

 Flowers sessile, solitary or rarely 2 together. 



Flowers large. Seeds smooth 8. V. sativa. 



Flowers small. Seeds granulated 9. V. lathyroides. 



1. V. hirsuta, S. F. Gray (fig. 278). Hairy V., Tare.— A more or less 



hairy annual, with slender, weak stems, 1 to 3 feet long, often climbing 

 by means of the branched tendrils. Stipules small, narrow, often 

 divided. Leaflets small, oblong, 6 or 8 pairs to each leaf. Peduncles 

 slender, with very few, usually 2 or 3, insignificant, pale blue flowers, the 

 fine teeth of the calyx almost as long as the standard. Style glabrous. 

 Pod nearly 6 lines long, flat and hairy, containing 2 slightly com- 

 pressed seeds, with a long, linear hilum. 



In hedges, cornfields, and waste places, common in Europe and Eussian 

 Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle. Extends all over 

 Britain, but is rare in the Highlands of Scotland. Fl. the whole summer. 



2. V. tetrasperma, Mcench. (fig. 279.) Slender V. — A slender annual, 

 glabrous, or nearly so, the weak stems often climbing, from 6 inches to 

 near 2 feet long. Leaflets narrow, the lower ones obtuse, 3 to 6 pairs 

 in each leaf, the tendrils simple or branched. Peduncles slender, with 

 1 to 6 or 7 pale bluish flowers, larger than in F. hirsuta, but much 

 smaller than in any other British Vicia, seldom exceeding 3 lines. Calyx- 

 teeth much shorter than the standard. Pod flat, not above 6 lines long, 

 usually containing about 4 seeds, but sometimes 5 or 6. V. gemella, Crantz. 



In fields, hedges, and waste places, all over temperate Europe and 

 Eussian Asia. Not uncommon in England, hardly wild in Scotland, and 

 very rare in Ireland. Fl. the whole summer. A variety with more pointed 

 leaflets, and with the number of seeds more frequently 5 or 6, has been 

 distinguished under the name of V. gracilis, Loisel. ; it is confined to 

 the middle and south of England, and is a doubtful native. 



3. V. Cracca, Linn. (fig. 280). Tufted V.— Eootstock perennial, the 

 annual stems weak, and climbing by means of the branched tendrils to 

 the length of 2 or 3 feet or rather more ; the whole plant hairy, or nearly 

 glabrous. Stipules narrow and entire. Leaflets numerous, oblong or 

 linear, the largest 8 or 9 lines long. Flowers numerous, in 1 -sided 



