PEA FAMILY. 



297 



trailing or climbing by branched tendrils, sharply 4-sided or -winged 

 at the angles; leaflets mostly broadly oblong, often widest above the 

 middle, usually obtuse, mucronulate, less than 1 in. long; peduncles 

 shorter than the leaves, 4 to 7 or 8-flowered; flowers at first purplish, 

 changing to bluish, 9 lines long; calyx-tube 2 lines long, the lower 

 teeth longer (1 line long), the upper approximate, incurved. 



Common in the hill country. Feb. -May. Very variable in 

 foliage. The following leaf varieties may be distinguished: Var. 

 linearis Wats., leaflets 1 to 1£ in. long, 1£ lines wide or less. Var. 

 truncata Brewer, leaflets truncate at apex and 3-denticulate. 



4. V. gigantea Hook. Stout, somewhat pubescent, climbing 

 several ft. high* and often forming extensive tangles and draperies 

 over shrubs; leaflets 20 to 30, narrowly oblong or tapering somewhat 

 from the base to the obtuse mucronulate apex; peduncles 7 to 18- 

 flowered; calyx short, lower teeth about equaling the tube; corolla 6 

 or 7 lines long, pale purple; pods oblong, 1£ in. long, glabrous, 3 or 

 4-seeded. 



San Francisco and Oakland northward near the coast. Mar.-June. 

 Herbage blackening in drying. 



9. LATHYRUS L. Pea 



Herbs, ours perennial. In technical character and in habit very 

 similar to Yicia. Banner roundish or very broad. Upper teeth of 

 calyx commonly shorter than the lower. Leaflets usually larger, in 

 ours 3 to 5 pairs, mostly mucronate; rachis in some species not pro- 

 longed into a tendril. Style flattish, hairy along the upper side only, 

 i. e., next the free stamen. Seeds as in the preceding. (Old Greek 

 name of the Pea.) 



Leaves without tendrils; pod shortly stipitate. 



Peduncle short, 1 or 2-flowered; stipules small 1. L. Torreyi. 



Peduncle longer than the leaves, 2 to 6-flowered ; stipules larger than the 



leaflets 2. L. Uttoralis. 



Leaves tendril-bearing; racemes many-flowered ; pod sessile. 



Stems angled. 



Herbage dark green, more or less pubescent; diffuse or climbing plants; 

 leaflets 1 in. long; stipules narrowly semi-sagittate, the lobes mostly 

 lanceolate ' and entire; corolla purplish or purplish-tinged: var. 

 puberulus of 3. L. vestitus. 



Herbage light green, glabrous; leaflets mostly exceeding 1 in., obtuse at 

 base and apex; stipules large, broadly semi-sagittate, ovate, acumi- 

 nate, the basal lobe broad, rounded and toothed; corolla rose-purple. 



4. L. Bolandtri. 



Stems winged, the wing commonly herbaceous; stipules small, commonly 

 entire. 



Herbage puberulent but seemingly glaucous; leaflets elliptic- to narrowly- 

 oblong, 1% to 2 in. long, acute at both ends, with long straight nerves 

 from or near the base; corolla white or yellowish white, purple- 

 veined " 5. L. Watsoni. 



Herbage glabrous or nearly so; leaflets linear-lanceolate, about l 1 ^ in. 

 long; corolla rose-purple 6. L. Jepsonii. 



1. L. Torreyi Gray. Herbage light green, sparingly villous; erect, 

 very slender, 4 to 9 in. high; leaflets thin, elliptic to ovate or oblong, 

 5 to 7 lines long; leaves with a terminal leaflet or the rachis merely 

 ending in a point; stipules small, semi-sagittate, lanceolate, the lower 



