7o 
SHAKESPEARE’S GARDEN 
the vetch that binds or tethers the corn—he may be 
correct; or it may be from the Dutch terve, wheat. 
Parkinson says, p. 1062 , “ Th. Bot.”: “This ramping 
wild vetch, or tare, as the country people call it, 
because it is the most pernicious herb that can grow 
on the earth, for corn or any other good herb 
that it shall grow by, killing and strangling them. ,, 
The tare of the Bible ( zizania ) is either darnel, which 
is doubtful, or more probably a bastard species 
of wheat. Many of our native vetches are hand¬ 
some, showy plants. The elegant wood-vetch ( V . 
sylvestris ) and the beautiful blue V. cracca are the 
gems, but the delicate foliage and stems of V. hirsuta 
or the little blue flower of V . tetrasperma are not to 
be despised. 
