Vicia . ] 
xxvi. leguminos^e : viciE.a:. 
Ill 
bristle, or leaflet ; sometimes wanting , but with a tendril or leaf - 
like petiole. (Gen. 17, 18.) 
17. Vicia Linn. Vetch. Tare. 
Style filiform, with its upper part hairy all round, or with a 
tuft of hair beneath the stigma. — Leaves usually with tendrils. — 
Name originally derived, according toTheis, from gwig , Celtic; 
whence also wichen in German, fiiKiov in Greek, vesce in 
French, and vetch in English. 
* Peduncles short, axillary , few-flowered. Calyx equal at the base. Styles 
with a dense tuft of hairs beneath the stigma. Cybospermum. 
1. V. lathyroides L. ( Spring V .) ; flowers sessile solitary, 
leaflets 2 — 6 lower ones retuse, stipules entire not impressed 
with a spot, calyx-teeth subulate, standard glabrous, legumes 
I linear glabrous, seeds nearly cubical tubercled. E. B. t. 30. 
Road-sides and dry pastures, not unfrequent. ©. 4 — 6. — Much 
resembling a starved state of V. sativa, or especially V. angustifolia ; 
from both of which it may be known by its calyx with narrower teeth 
and not gibbous at the base, the smaller, more purple flower, scarcely 
so large as the leaflets, with a less reflexed vexillum, and by the rough 
or dotted seeds. Here, too, the leaflets are fewer on a petiole, the 
tendril is simple, the stem procumbent. 
** Peduncles short, few-flowered. Calyx gibbous at the base on one side. 
Style with a dense tuft of hairs beneath the stigma. Euvicia. 
2. V. sativa L. (common V.) ; flowers 1 — 2 axillary nearly 
sessile, leaflets 6 — 10 lower ones retuse or obcordate upper 
ones often narrower or linear, stipules toothed with a more or 
less evident spot, calyx-teeth nearly equal, lanceolate-subulate, 
standard glabrous, legumes linear pubescent or rarely glabrous, 
seeds globose smooth. — a. sativa ; upper leaflets elliptic-oblong, 
flowers usually in pairs, pods erect. E. B. t. 334. V. ltevigata 
Sm. ? E. B. t. 483. — ji. angustifolia ; upper leaflets narrower, 
flowers usually solitary, pods spreading. V. angustifolia Roth: 
E. B. S. t. 2(314. V. Bobartii Forst. : E. B. S. t. 2708. 
a. Cultivated ground, frequent. — 0. Dry pastures in a sandy or 
gravelly soil. © or $ . 5, 6. — Flowers purple and blue or red par- 
ticularly' in the small varieties. Hilum of the seed long, linear. Our 
var. a. we have nowhere seen in a perfectly wild state ; it is that 
commonly cultivated. The /6. has smaller flowers; it is supposed by 
some to include two species, but by cultivating V. Bobartii, we ob- 
served it pass into V. angustifolia. V. laevigata Sm. has been long 
involved in doubt, having only occurred on the pebbly shore of 
Weymouth, Dorsetshire, where it was found by the Rev. Mr. Baker, 
about 70 years ago, but from which it has long since disappeared. 
Mr. Bentham pronounces it to be merely V. sativa, from which, 
