E. Bot. 743. A plant of more humble growth, with shorter spines, and smaller flowers than the preceding. Calyx silky, less woolly, with teeth deeply cut and standing apart. Blossom of a less bright colour than the former. Fl. Brit. Stems and branches less deeply furrowed, and the leaves more permanent; but the best characteristic is that pointed out to me by Mr. Stackhouse, who first observed that U. Europaeus has a pair of distinct scales at the base of the calyx, which are pale and deciduous like the leaves; but that U. nanus has a pair of dark-coloured spots, not deciduous. These, when examined under a glass, are really scales, but very minute. The calyx in this species is scarcely at all woolly. Both species vary much as to hairiness, as well as in the length of their thorns; but the luxuriant and more upright growth of the former is strongly contrasted by the dwarfish and stunted appearance of the latter. DWARF FURZE. (Welsh: Eithin mán. U. nanus. Forst. Sm. Willd. U. minor. Roth. U. Europaus B. Linn. E.) On barren commons. Flowers all the year, but never more fully than in September and October: (the flowering of the other species prevails chiefly in the spring months. P. E.) ONO'NIS.+ Cal. with five divisions: Standard striated; Legumes rhomboid, sessile. O. SPINO'SA. Flowers in bunches, solitary: leaves solitary or three together: branches thorny. Ludw. 68-Kniph. 5—Sheldr. 79-Blackw. 301-Riv. Tetr. 69, Anonis-H. Entirely confined to U. Europeus, and to be met with all the summer in Britain, (though not known on the Continent), is Apion (Curculio) Ulicis. Kirby. On this plant also will be found Abia sericea, Apion immune, and Arctia Russula: and the minute Ips rhododactylus preys upon, and penetrates the larger stems. E.) (Whether this later flowering kind be really a distinct species, or, as we cannot but suspect, merely arising from fortuitous circumstances, here may appropriately be introduced a stanza from the "Wild Garland.” "Mid scatter'd foliage pale and sere, And offers to the waning year The tribute of its golden bloom. In chill December's stormy hours, Gay as the buds of summer bowers. Emblem of Friendship! thee I hail! Blooming when others fade away, And brightest when their hues grow pale." E.) +(From ovos, an ass; and ovn, to delight; asses being fond of it. E.) slightly hairy. Branches terminating in softish thorns. Thorns at the base of the young branches, strong, early in the summer not pungent. Leaves almost smooth. Calyx hairy; segments awl-shaped, unequal. Blossom twice as long as the calyx. Woodw. In its young state, before the thorns are formed, it has frequently been mistaken for Ö. arvensis. Flowers red. THORNY REST-HARROW. CAMMOCK. GROUND FURZE. (O. spinosa B. Linn. Fl. Brit. E.) Barren pastures, hedge-banks, hollow ways, either in a sandy or a marly soil. P. July. O. ARVEN'SIS. Flowers in bunches, two together: leaves three together, the upper ones solitary: branches without thorns, somewhat woolly. (E. Bot. 682. E.)—Ger. 1142. 3. In the autumn of 1779, I examined many hundreds of O. arvensis in the corn-fields at Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, without finding a single one with thorns. Stem and branches woolly. Leaves somewhat woolly, broader, more egg-shaped, and not so elliptical as those of O. spinosa. Flowers more numerous, mostly solitary, on the young shoots, alternate: Calyr, segments more tapering. Woodw. Mr. Pitt, of Pendeford, near Wolverhampton, sent me specimens which he assures me never become thorny, and that the thorny sort is never found in that neighbourhood. I found it in great plenty on St. Vincent's Rocks, without the least appearance of thorns on any of the plants, though I examined a great number. A smaller plant than O. spinosa. Stems and branches woody, cylindrical, a little hairy. Leaves set with glandular hairs; the upper oblong-egg-shaped, toothed. Leaf-stalks short, fixed to a broad toothed - leaf-scale. Flowers scattered, intermixed with leaves. Calyx, some of the hairs long and tapering, others short and tipped with glands; segments, four of them pressing on the standard, the lowermost supporting the keel. Blossom standard circular, with a small point at the end, with short hairs on the outside, of a fine rose-colour, streaked with deeper coloured lines; wings more than half as long as the standard, egg-shaped, white; keel coloured and streaked as the standard. Anthers yellow. Germen with hairs tipped with glands. Seeds about six. Flowers sometimes nearly white. The hairiness of the leaves and the want of thorns best distinguish this from O. spinosa, whose thorns are so remarkable, and whose leaves are scarcely, if at all, hairy on the upper surface, though in both they are edged with hair-like glands terminating in small globules. HAIRY REST-HARROW. (Irish: Stran boh. Welsh: Hwp yr ychen. E.) O. inermis. Huds. (O. arvensis a. Fl. Brit. E.) Mostly in light land, and corn-fields. P. June. Var. 2. Stems prostrate; whole plant clammy. Whole plant clammy, not so downy as O. arvensis. Flowers larger and fewer. Leafits oblong wedge-shaped. Calyx segments shorter and blunter. Whether distinct from O. arvensis it is difficult to say, but I A decoction of the roots has been recommended in calculous complaints and jaundice. Cows and goats eat it; sheep are very fond of it; horses and swine refuse it. Linn. (The younger shoots, without thorns, do not appear to be objectionable to cattle. "It is sooner founde then desired of husbande men, bicause the tough and woodie rootes are combersome unto them, by reason they do staie the plough, and make the oxen stande; whereupon it was called Rest Plough, or Rest Harrow." Ger-by the old herbarists Arresta bovis and Remora aratri. It seems difficult to destroy it by fallowing. The following species is nearly as troublesome where it prevails. Apion Ononis, of Kirby, inhabits this plant. E.) am inclined to Mr. Hudson's opinion, as being removed into a garden it became upright, and more downy. If a variety, it is of O. arvensis and not of spinosa. Woodw. This has been taken for O. repens of Linnæus ; but Dr. Afzelius informed me that species had not been found in England, which confirms Hudson's opinion, formed after cultivating them together, that this is not specifically different from the arvensis. Mr. Woodward describes the arvensis as more downy than this, but my specimens from the southern coast are much more downy than those in the cornfields of the midland counties. CREEPING REST-HARROW. (O. repens. Linn. O. arvensis y. Fl. Brit. E.) Sea-shore in sandy soils, frequent. Lightfoot. Field by Charlton church, between the gravel-pit and Woolwich, towards Gravesend, and on the sand-downs by Deal, and near Yarmouth. Ray. At Sandscale ; and in Walney, plentiful. Common in dry sandy pastures in Low Furness. Mr. Atkinson. (North Shore, near Liverpool. Dr. Bostock. E.) P. June-July.* ANTHYLLIS.+ Calyx inflated, inclosing the legume. A. VULNERA'RIA. Herbaceous: leaves winged, unequal: heads of flowers in pairs. Dicks. H. S.-Kniph. 6—Fl. Dan. 988-E. Bot. 104-Dill. Elth. 431. 320 -Riv. Tetr. 18. 1, Anthyllis-Ger. 1060. 1, and 1023. 4-J. B. ii. 362— ¡Dod. 552. 1-Lob. Obs. 530. 1, and Ic. ii. 87. 2-Ger. Em. 1240. 1—Park. 1093. 1. Stems ascending, about a foot high, cylindrical, downy, with five or six pair of leafits. Leaves downy, hairs adpressed. Flowers sessile, deep yellow, Each head supported by two floral leaves, the larger six or seven cleft, the smaller with four. The structure of the filaments is singular; towards the top they swell out like a hollow bladder, in shape of an inverted pyramid, and the anthers are fixed to the central part of the base of the pyramid. Style thickest at the curvature, thinner above and below. (Calyx membranous, whitish, hairy. E.) KIDNEY VETCH. LADIES-FINGER. (LAMB-TOE. Welsh: Plucen felen. E.) Meadows and pastures, in chalky or calcareous soil. Wick Rocks, Somersetshire. Rev. G. Swayne. Craven, Yorkshire. Mr. Caley. Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh. Dr. Stokes. Limestone-pits, Cradley; near Malvern Hill, Worcestershire. Mr. Ballard. (Common in Norfolk and Suffolk, wherever the soil is chalky. Mr. Woodward. Coughton fields, near Alcester. Purton. E.) Coast of Devon, common. P. May-Aug. (These species appear to afford a favourite repast to the large brown-shelled spail Helix hortensis, (rendering them almost as fit for patès as the delicious H. pomacea of the Continent,) as we bare observed on the rocks near Teignmonth. E.) +(From avlos, a flower; and wλos, the first down on the chin; the whole plant being covered with soft down. E.) (As a vulnerary, its utility is at least problematical: though in Threlkeld's time (1727) it was regularly sold in Dublin market "by the name of Stanch, being astringent." Stirp. Hibern. E.) A yellow dye may be obtained from it. It affords an excellent pasturage for sheep. Where the soil was a reddish clay, Linnæus remarked the blossoms to be red, but in white clay, white. (In Portugal we have always found them red. In England, most commonly, as the rustic poet observes, "The yellow Lamb toe I have often got, Sweet creeping o'er the banks in sunny time." E.) Goats and cows eat it. (Though not in cultivation, Mr. Salisbury considers it well worth attention, as, where it flourishes most, (in calcareous soil), cows produce better milk and in greater quantity. E.) Var. 2. Blossoms scarlet, or purple. In Pembrokeshire. Ray. On the sand-banks near Llandwyn, Anglesey. Mr. Griffith. (In Cornwall. Mr. Stackhouse. Scotland. Mr. Winch. E.) (On the downs of Sussex this plant is found with white blossoms. Mr. Borrer, in Bot. Guide. Also near the old fortification on Bryn Gwydryn, Anglesey. Rev. Hugh Davies. E.) PI'SUM.* Calyx, two upper segments shorter; Style with three angles, keeled, and pubescent above: Legume tumid. P. MARITIMUM. Leaf-stalks flattish on the upper side: stem angular: stipulæ arrow-shaped: fruit-stalks many-flowered. (Hook. Fl. Lond. E.)-Smith Spic. Fasc. 1. 9-Fl. Dan. 338-E. Bot. 1046 -Munt. Phyt. 825. 230-Ġer. Em. 1220. 5-Park. 1060. 4 and 5. Roots striking very deep in the earth. Stems trailing, short; the outline of the whole plant oval. Leaves numerous, alternate; leafits oval, alternate, sessile, smooth, the outer not invariably smaller, on the lower leaves five to seven, on the upper nine to eleven, always one more on the outer side of the leaf-stalk, generally cloven, sometimes simple. Leafscales in pairs, oval spear-shaped, broad, arrow-shaped at the base. Flowers towards the end of the fruit-stalks, crowded, on short pedicles. Woodw. Blossom pale red and purple. SEA PEA. Sea-shores. On a stony beach between Aldborough and ford, Suffolk. Ray. Woodward. Near Hastings; and on the west side of Dungeness, near Lyd. Ray. Rye and Pevensey, Sussex; Guildford, opposite the Comber; and Ingolm Mills, Lincolnshire. On the sharp ridge running from Portland Island to Bridport, some distance to the right of the ferry, amongst loose pebbles, about fifteen or twenty feet above high water mark; but the cows eat it down so that it is difficult to procure a specimen in flower. Mr. Stackhouse. (Abundant on the beach near Walmer Castle, Kent. Mr. Dillwyn, in Bot. Guide. Sandown beach, Hampshire. Pulteney. Beach near Penzance. Heath. E.) (From micos, a garden; as being generally cultivated. E.) P. July-Aug.† + In 1555, during a time of great scarcity, the people about Orford were preserved from perishing by eating the seeds of this plant, which grew there in great abundance upon the sea coast. Cows, horses, sheep and goats eat it. It affords nourishment to Phalana Pisi. (Different kinds of Peas, especially those cultivated as pulse, are subject to the ravages of innumerable Aphides, or Plant-lice. These insects are endued with fecundating powers most extraordinary, being at one time viviparous, at another oviparous; and, what is without parallel, the ingress of one original pair serves for all the generations, (about twenty), which proceed from the individual for a whole succeeding year! see Kirby and Spence Entomology. i. 176.-Thus to whichever kingdom of nature our attention is more immediately directed, for "Each moss, we cannot but be struck with the "Opera mirifica Dei; " and such contemplations must ever afford to the intelligent mind a noble and refined luxury, a rational delight, and one that charms with continued variety. E.) O'ROBUS.* Calyx, the two upper teeth shorter but more deeply divided: Style slender: Summit pubescent above. O. SYLVATICUS. Stems decumbent, hairy, branched: leafits seven to twelve pair. Dicks. H. S.-(Hook. Fl. Lond.-E. Bot. 518. E.)-Lightf. 16. p. 390. Stems numerous, one to two feet long, trailing, much branched, slightly hairy. Leaves winged, alternate; leafits oval, or elliptical, terminated by a pointed extension of the mid-rib; on short hairy leaf-stalks, somewhat alternate, six to twelve pair, without an odd one, but with a sort of beard at the end of the general leaf-stalk. Flowers numerous, on short pedicles, crowded, mostly pointing one way, on the top of a long naked fruit-stalk. Stipule half-harrow-shaped, two at the base of each general leaf-stalk, smaller than those of O. tuberosus, and ending in a more acute point. Calyx short, green, tinged with red, fringed, lips nearly equal, the upper with two teeth, the lower with three, rather longer. Blossom long and narrow, reddish white, veined with purple, compressed. Woodw. (Root rather woody. Legume nearly an inch long, smooth. E.) (Sir J. E. Smith reports an extraordinary variety to have been found at Hafod, in South Wales, by Mr. Todd, with simple leaves, five times as large as its natural leafits, and which cannot by any culture be made to flower. E.) WOOD BITTER-VETCH. WOOD PEASLING. Woods, hedges, pastures, dry rocky places, and banks of rivers. (Lowlands of Scotland. North side of Braid Hill, near Edinburgh. Mr. Brown. Fringing the rocks along the banks of the Clyde, near the beautiful cascade of Corra Lyn. Dr. Hooker. E.) Ten miles from Penrith; Gamblesby, Cumberland. Mr. Woodward. Below Brecknock Hills, in the way to Cardiff, and not far from Bala, Merionethshire. Upper part of Merley Wood, near Oxford. Near Ross-Trevor, Ireland. Ray. Woods about Airly Castle. Mr. Don. On the Tweed, about half a mile below the Buld. Dr. Hope. About Cerrig y Druidion, and Ys pytty, Denbighshire. Mr. Griffith. P. May-July. (O. NIGER. Leaves winged, of from four to six pair of elliptic-lanceolate leaflets: stipulæ linear-awl-shaped, simple, entire: stem branched, angular, erect. Riv. Tetrap. Irr. t. 60—Clus. Hist. v. 2. 230-Dod. Pempt. 551-Ger. Em. 1239-Lob. Ic. v. 2. 78. Root tapering, sweet according to Linnæus. Herb smooth. Stems several, one and a half to two feet high, upright, branched, leafy, angular, not winged. Leaves usually of about five pair of elliptic-oblong, blunt, bristlepointed, veiny leaflets an inch long, not invariably opposite; the common stalk very little elongated beyond them. Flower-stalks axillary, rather longer than the leaves, each bearing a cluster of four or five elegant, blueish-purple, flowers. Legumes blackish, cylindrical. BLACK BITTER-VETCH. O. niger. Linn. Found by Mr. Thomas Drummond, in the den of Airley, ten miles west of Forfar, sparingly. P. June-July. Hook. Scot. Sm. Eng. Fl. E.) (From pw, to excite; and Bes, an ox; the plant refreshing and nourishing cattle. E.) |