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Vicia (Old Latin name used by Virgil)

(the old Latin name used by Virgil, &c.). Tare; Vetch. Including Ervum. Faba is also included, by the authors of the "Genera Plantarum," under this genus, but is kept distinct in this work. ORD. Leguminosae. A genus comprising about 100 species of mostly hardy, annual or perennial herbs, of variable habit, dispersed over North temperate regions and South America. Flowers often blue, violet, or yellowish-white, axillary, racemose; calyx teeth sub-equal, or the lower longer; standard obovate or oblong, emarginate; wings adnate to the keel; bracts very caducous. Pods compressed, two-valved. Leaves abruptly pinnate; leaflets usually numerous, entire or toothed at the tip; petiole often ending in a tendril. The following species are British: V. angustifolia, V. bithynica, V. Cracca, V. hirsula (Common Tare). V. lathyroides, V. lutea, V. Orobus (Bitter Vetch), V. sativa (Common Vetch; Fitch; Fitches), V. sepium, V. sylvatica (Wood Vetch), V. tetrasperma. V. hybrida and V. laevigata, formerly found in England, are now extinct. V. sativa is extensively grown as fodder for cattle. Few of the species are of any horticultural value. Those described below are of simple culture in common garden soil. They may be increased by seeds, the perennials also by divisions. V. argentea (silvery).* fl. pinkish, the tip of the keel spotted with black, secund, rather loose; peduncles many-flowered. June. l. cinereous-silvery, without tendrils; leaflets oblong-linear, mucronate. Stem tetragonal. h. 1ft. Pyrenees, 1827. Perennial. (B. M. 2946.) V. atropurpurea (dark-purple). fl. purple, secund, approximate; calyx teeth bristly; peduncles many-flowered, scarcely as long as the leaves. June. l., leaflets oblong, mucronate, opposite or alternate; stipules often toothed at base. Stem tetragonal. h. 3ft. Algiers, 1815. A villous annual. (B. R. 871.) V. Cracca (Cracca). Cow Vetch; Tufted Vetch. fl. bright blue, 1/2in. long, drooping; racemes dense, ten to thirty-flowered, unilateral; peduncles longer than the leaves. June to August. l. 1in. to 4in. long, sessile, linear-oblong, acute or mucronate. Stems 2ft. to 6ft. long, scandent or diffuse. Europe (Britain). Perennial. (F. D. 804; Sy. En. B. 385.) V. galegifolia (Galega-leaved). A synonym of Swainsona galegifolia. V. lathyroides (Lathyrus-like). Spring Vetch; Strangle Tare. fl. lilac-coloured, solitary, sessile, 1/4in. to 1/3in. long; calyx teeth subulate. May and June. l. 1/2in. to 1in. long; leaflets two or three pairs, linear-oblong or obovate, acute, obtuse, or notched. Stem 6in. to 8in. long, spreading. Europe (Britain). A hairy annual. (Sy. En. B. 395.) V. onobrychioides (Onobrychis-like).* fl. purple, distant; calyx teeth lanceolate; peduncles very long, many-flowered. June. l. numerous, linear, alternate or opposite, obtuse or mucronulate. Stem striated. h. 2ft. South Europe, 1759. Annual. (A. F. P. 42; B. M. 2206.) V. oroboides (Orobus-like). fl. of a very beautiful blue, usually three or four racemes standing together; peduncles many-flowered, axillary. June. l., leaflets ovate, mucronate. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Siberia, 1758. Perennial. SYN. Orobus lathyroides (B. M. 2098).

V. polysperma (many-seeded). fl. pale blue, erect, loosely racemose; calyx teeth unequal; peduncles eight to ten-flowered, and longer than the leaves. June. fr., pods linear-lanceolate, fourteen to twenty-seeded. l., leaflets fourteen to sixteen, ovate-oblong, obtuse, entire, mucronate, glabrous. Tendrils decompound. Stems 6ft. to 8ft. long, much-branched. Naples, 1833. Climbing annual. (S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 274.) V. sicula (little dagger). fl. of a fine purple, large, secund, numerously disposed on pedunculate racemes. May. l., leaflets linear, bluntish, mucronulate, rather silky beneath. Stem tetragonal, almost simple, creeping. 1827. (B. M. 4943 and S. B. F. G. 289, under name of Orobus Fischeri.) V. tenuifolia (slender-leaved). fl. violet; calyx teeth unequal; racemes clustered, secund; peduncles many-flowered, longer than the leaves. June. l., leaflets linear, alternate or opposite, nearly glabrous, mucronate. Stems branched. h. 1 1/2ft. Germany and Tauria, 1799. Climbing perennial. (B. M. 2141.)