THE PEA FAMILY 
75 
Spring* Vetch. (Vicia lathyroides, Linn.) — Flowers small, inch long, pale purple, 
solitary, stalkless (sessile) ; the calyx with 5 equal teeth, and the pods smooth (glabrous) and 
flattened, about 1 inch long. [As described in the genus Vicia.] Stems 6 inches long, spreading 
and prostrate ; the leaves divided to the midrib into 2-4 pairs of oblong leaflets, and ending in a 
straight point or a short simple tendril ; the stipules half arrow-shaped. 
Not common. Sandy commons and waste places. April — June. Annual. 
Rough -podded Purple Vetch. (Vicia bithynica, Linn.) — Flowers £ inch long, purple 
with paler wing petals, 1-2 or even 3 in a short-stalked cluster ; the calyx hairy, with unequal 
teeth, the upper pair shorter than the other 3. [As described in the genus Vicia.] Pods long and 
hairy ; stems 6 inches to 2 feet long, never winged ; the leaves divided to the midrib into 2-3 pairs 
of leaflets, which graduate from inversely egg-shaped (obovate) in the lowest to narrowly lance- 
shaped in the upper ones, and ending in a branched tendril ; the stipules large, half arrow-shaped. 
Rare. Grassy and bushy places near the sea. May — August. Perennial. 
VETCHLING, EVERLASTING PEA, BITTER-VETCH. (LATHYRUS, LINN.)— Flowers 
purple, red, white, or yellow, solitary or in clusters, terminating in long flower-stalks (peduncles). 
Calyx bell-shaped, terminating in 5 teeth, of which the upper 2 are shorter; petals 5, butterfly- 
shaped (papilionaceous), broad, especially the standard; stamens 10, 9 united, the upper one free 
or half free (diadelphous) ; carpel 1, with the style flattened at the base, hairy on the upper or 
inner side ; pods long, flattened, many-seeded. Herbs very similar to the Vetches, differing in the 
broader petals, the style, and the fewer and longer leaflets. 
Yellow Vetchling*. (Lathyrus Aphaca, Linn.)— As just described. The flowers \ inch 
long, yellow, r, or rarely 2 together, on a long slender stalk (peduncle) ; the calyx nearly as long as 
the petals, with 5 long, lance-shaped, nearly equal teeth ; the pods long, narrow, and straight, 
with few seeds ; the stem 8 inches to 3 feet long, angular, weak, climbing ; leaflets none, their 
place being supplied by a pair of very large heart- or arrow-shaped stipules at the base of each 
tendril. 
Rare. Cultivated and waste ground in the south. June — July. Annual. 
Crimson or Grass-leaved Vetchling*. (Lathyrus Nissolia, Linn.)— Flower £-§ inch 
long, bright rose-colour, solitary or rarely 2 together, on long stalks (peduncles) ; the calyx one-third 
as long as the corolla ; the pods narrowly oblong, straight, smooth (glabrous). [As described in the 
genus Lathyrus.] Stems 1-2 feet high, erect and angular; the leaves reduced to a long, flattened, 
grass-like leaf-stalk (petiole), without tendrils or stipules. \Plate 37. 
Rare. Bushy places and grassy borders of fields. May — June. Annual. 
Rough-podded Vetchling. (Lathyrus hirsutus, Linn.) — Flowers \ inch long, with a 
bright crimson standard and paler wings and keel, 1 or 2 on a long stalk (peduncle) ; the calyx 
half the length of the corolla ; the pods oblong, flattened, straight, hairy. [As described in the 
genus Lathyrus.] Stems 1-4 feet, weak, climbing, winged ; the leaves divided to the midrib into 
a single pair of long, narrow leaflets, terminating in a branched tendril ; the stipules small and 
half arrow-shaped. 
Very rare. Occasionally found in cornfields in Essex, Kent, and one or two other counties. 
June — July. Annual. 
Meadow Vetehling. (Lathyrus pratensis, Linn.) — Flowers §-£ inch long, bright 
yellow, 3-12 in a cluster, terminating a long stalk (peduncle); the calyx not half the length of 
the corolla ; the pods narrowly oblong, flattened, hairy when young; stems 1-3 feet long, angled, 
straggling or climbing ; the leaves divided to the midrib into a single pair of lance-shaped, 
