124 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
sold his birthright. There are only two species natives of Britain, viz. E. tetraspermum and E. hirsutum, both 
of which are annual weeds, producing their pale-blue or purple flowers in June and July. E. hirsutum , in 
particular, is a very troublesome weed, as it is very apt to strangle the corn among which it grows, by its long, 
wiry tendrils. The legume of this species has only two seeds ; while that of E. tetraspermum has four. The 
name of Ervum is derived from the Celtic word for a ploughed field, as the plant generally grows wild in corn¬ 
fields. 
GENUS XIII. 
THE PEA. (Pisum, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx with foliaceous segments, the two 
upper shortest. Yexillum large, reflated. Style compressed, keeled, 
villous on the upper side. Pod oblong, compressed, not winged, many- 
seeded. Seeds roundish,' with a roundish hilum. Annuals. Leaves 
abruptly pinnate, of three pair, with a tendril in place of a terminal 
leaflet. Stipules large. (Dec.) 
Description, &c. —This genus contains only one BritislTspecies; the eatable or common garden Pea, 
(P- sativum ,) and the field or grey Pea, (P. arvense,) being both natives of the south of Europe. The name 
of Pisum is said to be the Celtic word for Pea. 
1.—THE SEA-SIDE PEA. (Pisum maritimum, Lin .) 
Synonyme. —Lathyrus pisiformis, Hook. Specific Character. —Foot-stalks flattish on the upper side. jStem 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 1046 ; 2nd ed., t. 1007 ; and our fig. 1, angular. Stipulas arrow-shaped. Stalks many-flowered. (Smith.) 
in PI. 29. 
Description, &c. —This is a very showy-looking perennial, which is only found on the sea-coast in the 
eastern and southern districts of England. A curious legend is related of its first discovery. It is said that in 
the year 1555 there was a famine in Suffolk, and great quantities of persons were perishing for want of food, 
when the rocks between Aldborough and Orford became covered over with an immense quantity of the plants 
of this Pea, which grew rapidly and ripened such abundance of seed, that the lives were preserved of a great 
number of persons, who must otherwise have perished. The seeds, however, are very bitter and unpalat¬ 
able. It flowers in July and August. 
GENUS xrv. 
THE VETCH. (Vicia, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx tubular, 5-cleft or 5-toothed, the two I seeded. Seeds with an oval or linear lateral hilum.—ClimbiDg hep- 
upper teeth shorter than the others. Stamens diadelphous. Style baceous plants. Leaves abruptly pinnate, with a tendril in place of an 
filiform, at nearly right angles with the ovarium, villous on the upper j odd leaflet. Stipuloe generally sagittate. Peduncles axillary, either 
side, and below the apex on the under. Pod oblong, 1-celled, many- { long and many-flowered, or short and 1-flowered. (Dec.) 
Description, &c. —The common Vetch is a well-known British plant which is cultivated as a food for 
cattle; and some of the other British species are useful for herbage where they grow naturally on the banks of 
hedges, and other situations where they can find some support. They are all ornamental weeds, generally annuals, 
and most of them are found in very great abundance in every part of Great Britain. The name of Vicia is 
derived from the Celtic word of the plant. 
