Dec., 1914.] 
Videos and Phaseolece of Ohio. 
395 
Key to the Species. 
1. Stem erect, quadrangular. Vicia faba (1). 
1. Stem climbing, weak or trailing. 2. 
2. Peduncle very short or wanting, flowers 1 or 2, axilliary. 3. 
2. Peduncle elongated, flowers racemed or spicate. 4. 
3. Leaflets oblong, oval or obovate; stipules broad; flowers LHM in- long, 
bluish purple. Vicia saliva. (8). 
3. Leaflets except those of the lower leaves, linear or linear oblong. 
Vicia angnstifolia (9). 
4. Spikelike raceme, dense, secund, or one-sided, 15-40 flowered. 5. 
4. Flowers in a loose raceme, not one-sided, 1-20 flowered. 6. 
5. Stem, leaves and flowers villous pubescent; annual or biennial. Cul¬ 
tivated. Vicia villosa. (3). 
5. Plant glabrous or very finely pubescent; perennial. Vicia cracca. (2). 
6. Stipules rather broad, foliaceous, triangular ovate, sharply toothed. 
Vicia americana. (4). 
6. Stipules linear or linear oblong, entire. 7. 
7. Flowers 8-24; white, keel tipped with blue. Vicia caroliniana. (5). 
7. Flowers 1-6; bluish purple. 8. 
8. Calyx glabrous, ovules 3-6, flowers g to j in. long. 
Vicia tetrasperma. (6). 
8. Calyx pubescent ovules 2; flowers f in. long. Vicia hirsuta (7). 
1. Vicia faba L. Horse Vetch. An erect cultivated annual 
with a green, more or less reddish, 4-angled stem, 2-6 ft. high and 
)z-V\ in. in diameter. Leaves with a terminal leaflet or bract; 
leaflets oval, 2 in. long, 1% in. wide, stipules % in. broad, having 
prominent nectar glands. Flowers sessile, light-blue to purple; 
pods thick, broad, curved, pendent, the reddish brown seeds 
usually nearly circular, 1 inch broad, and the hilum / of the 
circumference. Some varieties resemble the common bean in 
shape. 
Vicia Faba is the bean of Roman history. It was often used as 
a counter in their mathematical calculations. The cool, wet 
climate of England is well suited for its cultivation, and it is there 
used for the food of man as 'well as for horses and cattle. It 
is cultivated in Ohio as an ornamental plant and occasionally 
for food. The seeds are used green or dried, boiled or roasted. 
It is also called Horse Bean, Broad Bean, Broad Windsor, English 
Broad Bean and English Dwarf Bean. 
2. Vicia cracca L. Cow Vetch. A weak trailing glabrous, 
or very finely pubescent perennial, 2-4 ft. long and he in. in 
diameter. Leaflets 4-12 pairs, linear %-% in. long, / 2 ~% in. wide, 
tendrils branched, the stipules linear, K 2-/3 in. long. Flowers 
bluish-purple to white, }{ in. long, arranged in a dense, secund, 
15-40 flowered raceme 1-4 in. long; pods %-l in. long; seeds 3-8, 
round and velvety black. 
It is generally found in dry soil. Columbiana, Wayne, Lake, 
Huron, Seneca, Cuyahoga. The Cow Vetch is also called Bird 
Vetch, Blue Vetch and Tufted Vetch. 
