IDetcbes. 
Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas, 
Of Wheat, Rye, Barley, Vetches, Oats, and Pease. 
Tempest , iv. I, 60. 
ROB ABLY the cultivated Vetch (Vida sativa ) 
is not a British plant, and it is not very certain 
to what country it rightly belongs; but it was 
very probably introduced into England by the 
Romans as an excellent and easily-grown fodder- 
plant. There are several Vetches that are true 
British plants, and they are among the most beautiful orna¬ 
ments of our lanes and hedges. Two especially deserve to 
take a place in the garden for their beauty; but they require 
watching, or they will scramble into parts where their presence 
is not desirable; these are V. cracca and V sylvatica. V. 
cracca has a very bright pure blue flower, and may be allowed 
to scramble over low bushes; V. sylvatica is a tall climber, and 
may be seen in copses and high hedges climbing to the tops 
of the Hazels and other tall bushes. It is one of the most 
graceful of our British plants, and perhaps quite the most 
graceful of our climbers; it bears an abundance of flowers, 
which are pure white streaked and spotted with pale blue; it is 
not a very common plant, but I have often seen it in Gloucester¬ 
shire and Somersetshire, and wherever it is found it is generally 
in abundance. 
The other name for the Vetch is Tares, which is, no doubt, 
an old English word that has never been satisfactorily explained. 
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