The BRITISH HERBAL. 
The Grafs- Vetch. 
The root is compofed of numerous, thick, and 
tough fibres. 
The ftalk is of a pale green, flender, but tole- 
rably ered, rarely much branched, and two feet 
high. 
The leaves are placed irregularly on the flalks 
from the top to the bottom of the plant ; and 
there generally rifes a young fhoot of a branch in 
the bofom of every one of them : they are very 
long, narrow, and of a fine frefh green \ fo that 
they in all refpefts refemble thofe of grafs ; and 
the plant is hardly diftinguifhcd, except when in 
flower. 
The flowers are phced on long, flender foot- 
ftalks ; and are of a bright red colour : they are 
fmall, but very confpicuous. 
The pods are long and flender, and the feeds 
are numerous and round. 
It is found by wood-fides, and in hedges in 
many places. Authors have called ic by a va- 
riety of names, but all of them liable to fo many 
objedtions, that this new one JiiJjoUa is very proper 
to be introduced in their place. 
Some call it Ervum fyhsftre ; and others, Cata- 
nance legmnittofa : hut ervum and catanaiice are names 
of different plants ; fo this breeds confufion. 
C. Bauhine calls it Latljyrus fylvejiris minor ; 
but the characters fliew how improperly it is called 
by that name. 
Its virtues are unknown. 
GENUS XI. 
K I D N E Y V E T C H. 
A N r H 2^ L L I S. 
THE flower is compoR-d of four petals, and is papilionaceous. The vexillum is oblong: ic 
turns back at the fides, and has a hollow bottom of the length of the cup. The alje are of an 
dblono- form, and are flaorter than the vexillum. The carina refembles the als in fliape andfizci 
but it is comprefied. The cup is formed of one piece, and is of an oval figure, fomewhat fwoln 
and hairy: it is divided regularly into five fegments at the edge, and it remains when the flower is 
fallen. The pod is very fmall, and of a roundifh figure ; and it remains covered within the cup. 
Linnreus places this among the diaddpbia decaudi ia ; the flower having ten threads in two afllirC- 
ments, nine coUeded into a body, and one fingle. 
DIVISION I, BR 
I. Yellow Kidneyvctch. 
AnthyUis pinnate fiava. 
The root is long, thick, and furniflicd with 
many fibres. 
The firft leaves are long, and pinnated in a very 
retJular and perfeft manner : each is compofed o[ 
fix or more pairs of pinns, which are oblong and 
narrow, and a much larger leaf of the fame form 
at the end : the whole is hairy, and of a whitifh 
green. 
The ftialk is round, thick, and a foot or more 
in height when it rifes up, but ic more ufualiy 
fpreads about the ground ; and is of a yellowiOi 
colour. 
The leaves on this are perfetflly like thofe from 
the root : they are placed irregularly, and are of 
the fame pale colour. 
The flowers ftand in tufts at the tops of the 
ftalks, and on long, flender pedicles rifing from 
the bofoms of the leaves : they are fmall and yel- 
low. 
The pods are fmall, and remain concealed in 
the cups. 
We have it in dry pafl:urcs not unfrequently. 
It flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Loto affinis vulnsraria pra- 
ITISH SPECIES. 
teufis. Others, AnthyUis leguminofa^ and Vulm' 
raria rujlica. 
It has the credit of being a famous wound- 
herb ; but thefe are virtues lefs regarded now 
than heretofore. 
2. Purple Kidneyvetch. 
AnthyUis prociwibcns f.crihus ruhris. 
The root is long, thick, and furniflied with 
numerous fibres. 
The firft leaves arc regularly pinnated : each 
is compofed of fevcral pairs of fmall pinnie, with 
a larger odd leaf at the end. 
The fl:alks are numerous, a foot long, and 
fpread themfelves on the ground. 
The leaves are placed irregularly on them, and 
are pinnated as thofe from the root. 
The flowers grow in large tufts at the tops of 
the fl:alks, and extremities of all the branches, 
and are of a bright red. 
The feed-velfels are very fmall, and perfeftly 
hid within the cup. 
It is found in our weftern counties, and flowers 
in Augufl:. 
Ray calls it Viilmraria fupina fiore coccineo* 
The older authors were not acquainted with it. 
D I V I- 
