258 XJEGUMINOSM. [Yicia. 



• Europe and in temperate Western Asia, where its cultivation was first 

 undertaken in very early prehistoric times, and it was unknown in 

 India before the invasion of the Sanscrit-speaking- races. It is consi- 

 dered to be one of the most nutritious of the pulses. In India it is 

 eaten as ddl, and it also forms one of the constituents of a dish called 

 ' hichri'. A well-known prepared food, called ' Revalenta ', is said to be 

 largely composed of the flower of this pulse. The young pods are 

 eaten as a vegetable, and the leaves and stalks are given as fodder to 

 cattle. 



38. VICIA, Linn. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. ii, 176. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves pari-pitinate, ending in 

 twisted tendrils. Floioers snbsessile, or in ped uncled racemes in the 

 axils of the leaves. Calyx-tube campannlate, often oblique ; teeth 

 long, often unequal. Corolla more or less exserted, standard broad^ 

 keel shorter than the wings. Stamens 2-adelpLous, the mouth of 

 the sheath very oblique, antJiers uniform. Ovary nearly sessile, 

 2-many-ovulerl ; style short, filiform or slightly flattened, its apex 

 dorsally bearded or pilose all round, stigma capitate. Fod flattish, 

 continuous within. — Species about 120, mostly in temperate parts 

 of the world. 



Style finely downy all round near the tip, pod 

 2-seeded ....... i. 7. hirsuta. 



Style bearded on lower side near the tip, pod 

 more than 2-seeded 2. V. sativa' 



1. V. hirsuta. 8. F. Gray Nat. Arr. Brit. PI. ii, 614; F. B. J. u, 177; 



Field Sc Gard. Crops Hi, 63 ; Watt E. D. Ervum hirsutum, Linn. ; Roxb. 

 Fl.Ind. Hi, 323;Royle III. 200; W. ^ A. Prod. 335.— Yem. Masur 

 chana, gegla (Hairy Tare). 



A hairy climbing annual. Stipules semisagittate, often toothed at the 

 base ; leaflets £-8 pairs, |-1 in. long, truncate. Peduncles longer than 

 the leaves, 3-6-flowered. Corolla scarcely exserted. Style pubescent 

 all round. Pod 4-| in., oblong-rhombcid, turgid, hairy, 2-seeded, 

 turning black. 



Abimdant within the area as a weed of wheat-fields. Dtstuib. Plains of 



' Pu.njab and Bengal, and on the W. Himalaya up to fi,C00ft. ; also on 



the Nilgiris. Most likely originally introduced from Europe, where the 



plant is common. It is said to b 3 sometimes cultivated in India for 



fodder. The seeds are often found as an impurity in exported wheat. 



2. V. sativa, Linn Sp- PL 736 ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. Hi; 323 ; Royle III. 190 ; 

 F.B. I.ii, 17 S; DC. L'Orig- PI. Cult 86; WaU E. P.— Common Vetch 

 or Tare. 



An annual with slender suberect stems, glabrous or obscurely downy 

 Stipules small, obliquely lanceolate, deeply toothed; leaflets 8-12; 



