204 
25. LEGUMIN OSiE . 
purplish ; sep. sub-equal, about the length of tube or a little 
shorter, small linear-acuminate. Pods finely but distinctly pu- 
berulous, dark coffee-brown or black, shining, about an inch 
long, -i in. broad, subcylindric scarcely compressed erect or de- 
clining. Seeds 10-12 small nearly globose scarcely compressed, 
lf-2 mill, in diam., brown speckled or mottled and streaked with 
black. 
(3. dumetorum ; pubescent, lfts. all broader and shorter, the 
lower more roundly obovate or retusely oval, fl. bright purple- 
crimson. — Herb. ann. Mad. reg. 2, r. — Shady places amongst 
bushes, Rib. das Cales, 3000ft., Apr. May. — Merely a luxuriant 
drawn-up local form of a. with more uniformly pubescent broader 
shorter thinner paler lfts., passing gradually into a, but distin- 
guishable easily from any state of V. cordata with its much more 
robust coarse habit, stouter st., stiffer or more substantial lfts., 
small inconspicuous narrow solitary (in Mad.) fl., smooth pods, 
and larger flattened black seeds. 
y. lactea ; like a, but smaller, with finer pubescent foliage, and 
fl. milk-w. or cream-col. — Herb. ann. Mad. reg. 2, rrr. Up the 
Caminho do Meio, Funchal, Sr. J. M. Moniz. — A very distinct and 
elegant little pi., with the remote linear-oblong upper lfts. and 
habit of small fine-leaved pubescent states of a ; from which 
therefore, not having seen ripe fr., I am unable to distinguish it 
more than varietally, though the smaller size of the fl., besides 
their colour, and the somewhat more than usual degree of pu- 
bescence of the lfts., seem to indicate a wider difference. The 
lfts. of the lower 1. are small obovate or obcordate, of the mid- 
dle oblong, of the upper remote linear 4-6 lines long, one broad : 
none more than 3-6 times as long as broad. 
Difficult as it is undoubtedly to define accurately the two fore- 
going sp., in consequence of the liability to occasional variation 
of most of their assigned characters, I cannot after many years’ 
observation regard them as mere races or varr. derived from a 
single sp. They appear also respectively distinct from the allied 
European sp., V.sativa L., and angustifolia Sibth. (EBS. t. 2614), 
which however I have not enjoyed equal opportunities of study- 
ing in a growing state. 
The more slender habit, dark dull gr. mostly smooth foliage, 
thinner more oblong or oval lfts., of which the uppermost are 
often linear, stalked conspicuous 2-4-nate pea-like fl., narrow 
black puberulous pods, and small globose speckled seeds aro the 
normal features of V. conspicua compared with V. sativa L. and 
V. cordata Wulf. 
Its distinctness from V. angustifolia Sibth. (EBS. t. 2614) Sm. 
