3 7 flowered; lower teeth of the calyx ovate-lanceolate, shorter than the
tube, the tipper ones very short; legume slightly falcate, 4-8-seeded.—Ell. sk.
2. p. 2 2 5 5. DC. prodr. 2. p. 357. V. lutescens, Muhl. cat. fide Leconte.
V. paucifolia, N u tt.! mss.
0. leaflets elliptical, obtuse ; peduncles shorter, about 2-flowered
Low grounds, G eo rg ia ,^ Conte! Middle Florida, Ur.Chapman! Nuttall!
i\ear fet. Marks, Dr. Leavenworth! S t John’s, Florida, Mr. Doubleday!
—GJ . Stem 2-3 feet long, climbing very slender. Leaflets 6-10 lines
long, scarcely a line wide. Tendrils usually undivided. Flowers half as
large a sm V. Cracca, white, tinged with blue.
i K' tetf asPerm^ (Loisel.) : stem somewhat csespitose, glabrous ; leaf-
lets 4-6, oblong; stipules lanceolate, semisagittate; peduncles usually 2-
(sometimes 1- or 3-4-) flowered ; teeth of the calyx lanceolate, shorter than
the tube, the sinuses acute; legume oblong, glabrous, usually 4-seeded.—
Loisel. fl. Gall. 1. p. 460. V. pusilla, Muhl. in Willd. sp. 3. p. 1106;
Ptirsh, f l 2.p. 471; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 270. Ervum tetraspermum, Linn. :
DC. prodr. 2. p. 367; Hook. jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 158.
Banks of rivers, Canada! to New Jersey! Pennsylvania, Muhlenberg.
July.—(1) Stem 1-2 feet long, very slender. Leaflets 5-10 lines long, and
one line wide, mostly obtuse. Tendrils divided. Peduncles filiform. Flowers
very small, white, often with a tinge of blue. Legumes half an inch long
sometimes 5-seeded. Seeds subglobose.
13. V. exigua (Nutt.! mss.): “pubescent; leaflets 6- 8, linear-oblong, rath-
er obtuse j stipules narroWj semisagittate, entire or incisely serrate 5 pedun-
cles filiform, 1- (sometimes 2-) flowered, shorter than the leaves; teeth of the
calyx lanceolate, broad at the base, shorter than the tube, the sinuses obtuse;
legume oblong, glabrous, 4-5-seeded.
Plains of the Oregon and Upper California. Very much resembling the
preceding species—The plant from Oregon is more slender and the leaflets
narrower.” Nuttall.
* Flowers nearly sessile.
14. V. sativa (Linn.): somewhat pubescent; stem simple, decumbent or
climbing; leaflets 10- 12, varying from obovate-oblong to linear, retuse mu-
eronulate; stipules semisagittate, somewhat toothed; tendrils branched-
flowers solitary or in pairs ; calyx cylindrical; the segments as long as the tube’
lanceolate-subulate, nearly equal; style short, bearded at the apex; legumes
compressed, torulose, erectish, reticulated; seeds orbicular, somewhat compressed.—
Eng. hot. t. 334; Michx. ! fl. 2. p. 69 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 270- DC
prodr. 2. p. 360; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 270; Hook. 1. c.; Darlingt. fl.’cest
p. 425. V. Canadensis, Zuccagni; DC. 1. c. ? J
J. angustifolia (Seringe, in DC. 1. c.): leaflets narrowly linear and
elongated, obtusish or slightly retuse, mucronate; seeds nearly globose. V.
sativa 0. Linn. V. angustifolia, Roth.
Cultivated fields and waste places; common: introduced from Europe
». Bordentown, New Jersey Mr. Durand! June-July.— (J) Corolla about
half an inch long, pale violet-purple. Legume 1-2 inches long, usually minutely
hairy.— Common Vetch. Tare. 1
t Doubtful species.
15. V. tridentata (Schwein ): stem sulcate, somewhat pubescent; leaflets
numerous, narrowly oblong, entire, obtuse, mucronulate, sparingly hairy
above, densely hairy beneath; lower stipules cuneiform, broadly 3-cleft 3-
nerved, pubescent; the upper ones lanceolate, acuminate, villous; calyx and
pedicels pubescent. Schwein. in Long’s 2nd, exped. app.
Upper Mississippi, Mr. Keating.
2. ERVUM. Linn.; Juss. gen. p. 360.
Calyx deeply 5-cleft; the segments nearly equal, linear, acute, about the
length of the corolla. Style filiform : stigma glabrous. Legume oblong, 2—
4-seeded. Seeds orbicular or globose.—Annuals. Leaflets usually numerous.
Petioles produced into tendrils. Peduncles axillary.
1. E. hirsutum (Linn.): stem branching, diffuse; leaflets 8-20, linear,
tapering at the base, truncate or retuse at the apex, mucronulate; stipules
subulate, semisagittate, entire or cleft; peduncles 3-6-flowered, about the
length of the leaves; calyx hairy, the subulate segments rather shorter than
the corolla; legumes oblong, obliquely truncate, torulose, hirsute, 2-seeded,
drooping.— Torr.! compend. p.264; DC. prodr. 2. p. 366 ; Darlingt. fl.
Cest. p. 426; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 158. Vicia Mitchelli, Raf. prec.
decouv. p. 37; Ell. sk. 2. p. 224; DC. prodr. 2. p. 360.
Thickets and banks of streams, New-York! Pennsylvania, S. Carolina:
probably introduced. May-June.—Stem 1-3 feet long, very slender, climbing.
Flowers very small, bluish-white. Seeds subglobose, somewhat compressed.
3. LATHYRUS. Linn. / DC. prodr. 2. p. 369.
Calyx campanulate, 5-cleft; the two upper segments somewhat shortest.
Style usually somewhat flattened, and dilated above, bent nearly at a right
angle with the ovary, pubescent or villous along the inside (next the free stamen).
Legume oblong, several-seeded.—Mostly climbing herbs. Leaflets
1-several pairs. Petioles produced into tendrils. Peduncles axillary,
§ 1. Annual: peduncles 1-3-flopered.
1. L. pusillus (Ell.): glabrous; stem branching from the base, winged;
leaflets a single pair, linear-lanceolate, acute at each end, slightly mucronate;
stipules rather large, sagittate, slightly falcate; peduncles elongated, 1- 2-
flowered; tendrils branching; segments of the calyx subulate-setaceous,
nearly equal; legume elongated, slightly falcate, 10-15-seeded.—Ell, sk. 2.
p. 223.
S. Carolina, Elliott: common also in Arkansas, Nuttall! Dr, Pitcher!
Dr. Leavenworth! Texas and Western Louisiana, Dr. Leavenworth!
April-May.—A small slender vine. Leaflets 1J-2 inches long. Stipules unequally
sagittate, nearly an inch in length.
§ 2. Perennial: peduncles several-flowered.
2. L. maritimus (BigeL) : mostly glabrous; stem stout, angled, at length
decumbent; leaflets 4-6-pairs, oval or slightly obovate; stipules cordate-hastate,
nearly the size of the leaflets ; peduncles many- (6- 10-) flowered, rather
shorter than the leaves ; segments of the calyx hairf on the margin, the two
upper ones triangular and shorter, the others lanceolate; corolla purple; legumes
oblong, at length rather turgid, slightly falcate.— Bigel. ! fl. Bost. ed.
2. p. 268. L. venosus, Brit. ft. gard. (ser. 2.) t. 37; Bigel. 1. c. ed. 1. L.
Californicus, Dougl.; Lindt, bot. reg. t. 1144, fide Hook. L. pisiformis.