rhe BRITISH HERBAL. 
283 
GENUS V. 
VETCH. 
V I C I A. 
THE flower is compofed of four petals, and is of the papilionaceous kind. The vexi'lum is of aa 
oval figure, and has a very Ion- bottom furrounding the rudiment of the fruit : the top of ic 
is nipped and"poi"':t^d, the fides turn back, and there is a line of an elevated form running down the 
whole len-th of the back of it. The alfE are oblong, ftrait, and fomewhat heart-fafhioned ; and they 
have lonc^'bottoms. The carina is fhorter than the aLis : it has alfo an oblong bottom, which is di- 
vided into two parts. The pod is long, and of a tough fubftance, and is terminated by a point : the 
feeds are round. The leaves are pinnated, and compofed of numerous pairs ; and they have not the 
bluifli colour, which is almoft univerfd among the pea kind, and common to mod of the lathyri. 
Linn-US places this among tht diadelphia dstandria ; the threads in the flower being ten, in two 
afTortments. But he joins with it the bean, annong lome other equally diiferent plants. 
. In vindication of this he fays, that, having repeatedly examined and compared the flowers of the 
vetch and bean, there appeared to him no elTcntial difference: fo that, upon their fimilitude, he 
makes the bean a fpecies of vetch, not a dlitina genus. 
■I hat dilrerence, which is not feen in the liower, is evident in the pod and feeds ot thefe plants ; 
and in Nature no two genera of this clafs are more perfedlly feparated. 
This author fays, that, in the leguminous tribe, the ihape of the fruit alone is not to determine a 
genus to be diftincT;. But thefe are arbitrary words. Fancy may diftate laws in this cafe, but Na- 
ture has eftabiithed none. It is certain fh.u the difference of the fruit is a fufficient mark for the 
difliinftionof genera among the leguminous plants; and thefe are properly feparate genera : it is 
therefore we do not include the bean among the -vetch kind, but fhai! treat only of vetches properly , 
fo called under this head. 
DIVISION I. BR 
I. The Common Tare. 
Vicia vulgaris fativa femine nigricante. 
The root is compofed of numerous, long, thick, 
and irregular fibres. 
The flalks are numerous, round, weak, and 
of a pale green : they ftand irregularly, and arc 
fcarce able to keep thcmfelves up without fup- 
ports. 
The leaves are very numerous, long, and nar- 
row ; they are pinnated, but without an odd leaf 
at the end, a tendril growing in its pUce : each 
is compofed of fix or eight pairs of pinnae ; and 
they are of a dufl;y green, and fomewhat hairy. 
The flowers ftand in the bofoms of the leaves, 
ufually two together, fupjxirted on very fliort 
foottfalks : they are large, and of a mix'd r^d 
and purple colour. 
The pods are large, long, and pointed: they 
ftand iifually pointing upwards : the feeds are 
numerous, round, and naturally blackifli. 
It is common wild in the corn-fields of Italy 
and is in our country alfo a native,- but not fo 
common. I have feen it where there were no 
msrks of the feed ever having been brought to 
the place, in our northern counties ; and it is alfo 
frequent wild in Ireland, 
C. Bauhine calls it Plcia vulgaris fativa femi7ie 
nigra. 
Ke difliingulflies as a diflin6l fpecles the vetch 
with whitifli feeds, and many authors follow him ; 
but this is only a variety. 
2. Great Bufli-Vctch. 
Vicia pirmis ovatis f.crihus numerojis. 
The root is long, flender, and furnifhcd with 
many thick and fl:raggling fibres. 
The flalk is flender, weak, and of a pale green : 
ITISH SPECIES. 
it is not abie to fupport itfelf without climbing; 
but, when buflies are near it, will rife to four or 
five feet in height. 
The leaves are numerous, and placed irregu- 
larly : they are very beautifully pinnated, each 
being compofed of feven, eight, or more pairs 
of pinn.i^, which are of an oval form, and frefh. 
green colour. A tendril flands in the place of an 
odd leaf at the end of each rib. 
The flowers are large, and of a beautiful bright 
red, fliriped with a deeper red, with a pale 
purple : they ftand in ckifl:ers, fix or more toge- 
ther, and have fiiort footilalks. 
The pods are fmall : they are fliort and cdm- 
prefled v and the feeds are blackifii, and nearly- 
round. 
It is common in thickets, and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Vicia tnaxima Vumetorum, 
Others, Vicia fefitim peremtis. It is fometimes 
leen with white flowers, but very rarely. 
3. Great Bufli- Vetch withfliorc pinnae. 
Vicia fmnis brevioribus ohtufiS jloribus tiumerofis. 
The root is compofed of numerous, long, thick 
fibres. 
Tte ftalk is weak, but very long : v;hcn there 
is a fufficient fupport of bullies, it often grows to 
fix feet. 
The leaves are pinnated, and each has eight or 
more pairs : thefe are ihort, obtufe, and of a deep 
green colour. 
The flowers grow in tufis with fliort footflralks, 
and are throughout of a dull purplifii colour. 
The pods are fiiort and thick ; each contains 
about fix feeds, which very much reOmble thofe 
of the common tare. 
It is found in thickets and among buflies in 
our northern counties ; but 11 is not common. 
Rav 
