DIADELPHIA. DECANDRIA. Lathyktjs. 837 
O. tuberc/sus. Leaves winged, spear-shaped: stipulae half-arrow- 
shaped, very entire, (toothed at the base: FI. Brit. E.) stem 
simple, erect. 
Dicks. H. S. — Curt .— (E. Hot. 1153. E.)— Riv. Tetr. 59, Orob. rad. tub . 
— Sib. 1— Ger. Em. 1237. 2— H. Ox. ii. 21, row 2.f. 3— FI. Dan. 781—-> 
Thai. I—Park. 1062. 5. 
Stems at first decumbent, but upright when in flower. Linn. (About a 
foot high, winged, slender, leafy. Root tuberous, black on the out¬ 
side, and knobby. Leafits one to three pair.s, sessile, elliptical, the upper 
ones narrower and nearly strap-shaped, without an odd one, but the 
leaf-stalk is extended into a point. Stipules in pairs at the base of the 
leaf-stalks. Flowers four or five in a bunch, on short slender pedicles. 
Woodw. Stems with two or three membranous leafy edges. Style strap¬ 
shaped, not pointed at the end. Seeds compressed, about twelve. Bios - 
soms purple, large, three or four together. Legume flattish, black, pen¬ 
dent. 
(The leafits are sometimes narrow, linear, constituting O. tenuifolius, of 
Roth. E.) 
Heath Peaseling. (Tuberous Bitter-Vetch. Cor-meille , of the 
Highlanders. Irish: Carmel. Welsh: Pysen y coed gnapwreiddiawg. 
E.) Moist heaths and woody meadows, not rare. P. April-—May.* * 
LATH'YRUS.f Cal. two upper segments shorter: Style 
flat, dilated upwards, downy on the upper surface. 
(1) Fruit-stalks single-jtowered. 
L. apiPaca. Tendrils without leaves: stipulae arrow-heart-shaped. 
Curt. —(E. Rot. 1167—Purt. 3. E.)— Gies. 41 —Mill, III. 43 —Lob. Obs . 
518. 1, and Ic. ii. 70. I—Ger. Em. 1250—Park. 1067— H. Ox. ii. 4. 7. 
Stems quadrangular, trailing. Stipules oval-spear-shaped, arrow-shaped at 
the base, in pairs, smooth, somewhat sea-green, marked underneath 
with numerous parallel ribs, larger towards the top of the stem. Fruit- 
stalks long, from the bosom of the leaf-scales, alternate. Tendrils soli¬ 
tary, simple, opposite to the fruit-stalks. . Floral-leaves awl-shaped. 
* The roots, when boiled, are savoury and nutritious ; ground to powder they may be 
made into bread. They are held in esteem by the Highlanders of Scotland, who dry them 
in their pockets, and chew them, as our people do tobacco, and find that they prevent the 
uneasy sensation of hunger. They imagine that they promote expectoration, and are 
efficacious in. curing disorders of the lungs. They know how to prepare an intoxicating 
liquor from them. Penn. Tour. 1772. p. 810. Ray’s Hist. Plant, p. 916. This plant is sup¬ 
posed to be the Chara named in Caesar’s Commentaries, De Bell. Civ. iii. 40. <4 Ipse autem, 
consumptis omnibus long& lateque frumentis, summis erat in angustiis. * * 
* * * * # * * * 
Est etiam genus radicis inventum ab iis qui fuerant cum Valerio, quod appeilatur Chara: 
quod admistum lacte, nmltum inopiam levabat; id ad similitudinem panis efficiebant.”— 
Also the same mentioned by Dio, on which, mixed with milk, the soldiers of Valerius’ army 
subsisted under a penury of bread. Vid. also Sibbald Miscel. Antiq. fo. 1710. E.} 
Horses, cows, goats, and sheep eat it. 
f (Ihe meaning of this name, derived from Theophrastus, is not apparent; unless the 
conjecture from AaSw, to lie hidden, be admissible: but that does not obviously apply to 
the habit of the plant, E.) 
