The BRITISH HERBAL. 
E N U 
VIII, 
BITTER VETCH. 
E R V U M. 
THE flovrer, is papilionaceous. The vexillum is large, roundifh, flat, and lightly turned back. 
The ate are (hart and obtufe. The carina is very lliort, and terminates in a point. The cup a 
divided at the edge into five narrow fcgments. The fruit is a long, rounded pod, diftinguifhed into 
a kind of joints by the fwelling of the feeds. 
Linnxus places this among the diedelpbia decatidria ; the threads beingdifpofed as in all the preceding 
genera. This genus is generally called ereias ; but that name being appropriated to another, it is beft 
•to ufe the other term eruum. 
Narrow-leaved Bitter Vetch. 
Ervwn foUh sngitjlis. 
The root is compofcd of many flender 
fibres. 
The ftalks are numerous, weak, and trailing, 
unlefs fupported. 
The leaves are long and narrow : they arc com- 
pofed of numerous pairs of oblong and Ilendcr 
f innas, and are of a dufliy green. 
The flowers are large and white ; they (land 
iingly on Jong, (lender footftalks, rifing from the 
bofoms of the leaves. 
The feed-veffel is long, and appears jointed, 
fwelling out at the places where the feeds lie. 
It is a native of Italy, and the fouth of France, 
and flowers in Auguft. 
C. Bauhine calls it Orobus fiUquis artiadatis flare 
liujare. Others, Orobus verus, and Orobus re- 
ceptus hcrbariorum. 
It is a difpute whether this be or be not the 
crobm of fome of the antient writers ; but it is 
of little confequence, the virtues being too in- 
confiderable to warrant any great enquiry on that 
head. 
2. Small-flowered Bitter Vetch. 
Ervum fiofcuUs minoribus. 
The root divides into numerous fibres, and ia 
whitilh. 
The flalks are flender, weak, hollow, of a 
pale green, and half a yard high. 
The leaves are large, and of a beautiful green : 
they are compofcd each of fix or more pairs of 
long and narrow pinnae, with an odd one at the 
end. 
The flowers are very fmall and white : fome- 
timcs lightly dafiicd with purple. 
They Hand three or four together, on long, 
flender footftalks. 
The pods are flender, long, and very deeply 
divided or jointed by the fwelling of the feeds. 
The feeds are fmall and cornered. 
It is a native of France, and flowers in Auguft. 
C. Bauhine calls it Orobus famine obtufo trian- 
gulo. Others, Cksr Qrob^tan. 
N U 
IX. 
S E C U R I D yl C A. 
n^ME flower i; papilionaceous. The vexillum is fhort, of a heart like fhape, and turned back at 
the top and fides. The al;^! are ovaJ, obtufe, and convergent upwards. The carina is flatted, 
fiiort, and pointed. The cup is diviSed into two principal parts ; the upper one is divided again into 
two, and the lower one into thrte fi^gments. The feed-veffel is very long, fiender, and flatted, and 
the feeds are fquare. 
Linnseus places this among the duiAelpHn decatidria ; the threads in the flower being ten, and dif- 
pofed as in the preceding genera. 
Great yellow Securidaca. 
Securldaca major Jlore fuvvo. 
The root is divided into many parts, and fur- 
niflied with innumerable fibres. 
The fl;alks are numerous, and of a pale green, 
tough, and branched i and, when properly fup- 
ported, they will rife to the height of four feet or 
more. 
The leayes are large, and beautifully pinnated ; 
each is tompofcd of fix or eight pairs of pinnx, 
with an odd one at the end ; and thefe are broad, 
fhort, obtufe, and of a bright green. 
The flowers are large and yellow : they grow in 
tufts, four or more together upon the tops ot fien- 
der footfl:aIks rifing from the bofoms of the leaves. 
The feed-vefiels are long, flender, flatted, and 
fomewhat hooked. 
It is common in France and Italy among corn, 
and flowers in AuguO;. 
C. Bauhine calls it Securidaca lutea major. 
Linnceus makes it a fpecies of coronilla. 
GENUS 
