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Show 32() CULINARY rLANTS. CIIAI'. 1:\. of amtlogous variation in three forms which are generally considered as distinct species. But .·carccly any modification seems so ca ily acfJuircd as a succul nt cnl::n·gomcnt of tho stem or root- that is a store of nutriment laid np for tho plant's own futuro usc. Wo sec tl:Us in our radisltcs, beet, and in tho less generally known "turnip-rooted" celery, and in tho finocchio or Italian variety of the common fennel. Mr. Buckman has lately proved by his interesting experiments how quickly the roots of tho wild parsnip can bo enlarged, as Vilmorin formerly proved in tho case of tho carrot.7° This latter plant, in its cultivated state, differs in scarcely any character from tho wild English species, except in general luxmianco and in the size and quality of its roots; but in tho root ten varieties, differing in colour, shape, and quality, arc cultivated n in England, and como true by seed. Ilenco, with tho carrot, as in so many other cases, for instance wjth the numerous varieties and sub-varieties of the radish, that part of the plant which is volucd by man, tal. ely appears alone to have varied. 'rho truth is that variations in this part alone have been selected ; and the seedlings inheriting a tendency to vary in the same way, analogous modifications have been again and again selected, until at last a great amount of chango has boon effected. P ea ( l''isum sativum ).-Most botn.nists look at tho garden-pea as spccificvJly distinct from tho field-pea ( P. ctr'!lense). The latter exists in a wild state in Southern Europe; but tho aboriginal parent of the gardenpea has been found by one collector alone, as he states, in tho Crimca.7s Andrew Knight crossed, as I am informed by tho Rev. A. Fitch, tho field-pea with a wcll-lmown garden variety, the Prussian pea, and the cross seems to have been perfectly fertile. Dr. Alefeld has recently studied 79 tho genus with care, and, after having cultivated about fifty varieties, concludes that they all certainly belong to the same species. It is an interesting fact already alluded to, that, according to 0. Ileor,so tho peas found in tho lake-habitations of Switzerland of tho Stone and Bronze ages, belong to an extinct variety, with exceedingly small seeds, allied to P . a1·ve'11se, or field-pea. Tho varieties of tho common garden-pea are numerous, and differ considerably from each other. For comparison I planted at the samo time forty-one English and French varieties, and in this one case I will describe minutely their differences. The varieties 76 These experimeuts by Vilmorin hnve been quoted by ronny writers. An eminent botanist, I rof. Decaisno, has lately expressed dvubts on tl10 su~ject from his own negative results, but these cannot be valued equally with positive results. On tho other hand, M. Carri:\rc has lately stated (' Gard. Chronicle,' 18G5, p. 1154) thn,t he took seed from n wild carrot, growing t~u· from any cnlLivat.od lnnd, and oven iu the fir;;t gcnNation tlto roots of his seedlings clill"crrd in hoing l:ipindle-sha.pocl, lon~cr, sorter mul less fibrous than those of tho wild ph~nt. From these seedlings he raised several distinct varieti es. 77 Loudon's 'Encyolop. of Gardening; p. 835. 7S Alplt. Do Cn,ndolle 'Gi!ograph. Bot.,' 9GO. Mr. Bentham (' Ilort. Journal,' vol. ix. (1855), p. 141) believes that ganlon nnd field p ns belong to tho same species, nnfl in tllis rel:ipcct he differs from Dr. 'l'argimli. 79 'Botanischo Zoitung,' 18GO, s. 204. Ro ' Die Pflo.n7.on cler Pfaltlbauten.' 186G, s. 2R. CIIA'I'. IX. PEAS. 327 differ greatly in hoight,-namely from between 6 and 12 inches _to_ 8 fe~t, 81 -in manner of growth, and in period of maturity. Some vanetles d1ffer in general a.·pcct oven while only two or three inches in height. The stems of tho l'russiun pea are much branched. The tall lrinds have larger leaves than tho dwarf kinds, but not in strict proportion to their height:llni1 ·s' Dwrwf Monmouth has very largo loaves, and the Pois nain hatif, and tho moderately tall 13tne Frussiun, have leaves about two-thirds of tho size of the tallest kind. In the DanecTojt the leaflets are rather small and a little pointed ; in the Queen of Dwa~fs rather rounded; and in the Queen qf l'.'ngland broad and largo. In these three peas tho slight di_fferonces in tho shape of the loaves arc accompanied by slight differences m colour. In tho Puis yrJant scms rmrchemin, which boars purple flowers, the leaflets in tho young plant arc edged with rod; and in all the peas with purple flowers tho stipulos are marked with red. In tho different varieties, one or two, or several flowers in a small cluster, are borne on tho same peduncle; and this is a difference which with some of the Leguminosre is considered of specific value. In all the varieties tho flowers closely resemble each other except in colour and size. They arc generally white, sometimes purple, but the colour is inconstant oven in tho same variety. In Warner's Emperor, which is a tall kind, tho flowers aro nearly double tho size of those of the Pois nain hatij~ but flail'S' nwa?f Jlllonmouth, which has largo loaves, likewise has large flowers. ']'he calyx in the V'ictorict Murrow is largo, and in Bishop's Long Pod the sepals arc rather narrow. In no other kind is there any difference in tho flower. The pods and seeds, which with natural species afford such constant characters, differ greatly in the cultivated varieties of the pea; and these are tho valuable, and consequently the selected parts. Sugar peas, or J>ois sans paTchemin, are remarkable from their thin pods, which, whilst young, arc cooked and eaten whole ; and in this group, which, according to Mr. Gordon includes eleven sub-varieties, it is the pod which differs most: thus J~ew'is's Negro-podded pea has a straight, broad, smooth, and clark· purple pod, with the husk not so thin as in the other kinds ; the pod of another variety is extremely bowed; that of the Pois grJant is much pointed at the extremity; and in tho variety "a gmnds co~;ses" the peas arc soon through the husk in so conspicuous a manner that the pod, especially when dry, can hardly at first be recognised as that of a pea. In tho ordinary varieties the pods also differ much in size ;-in colour, that of Woodford's G r er:n Mur-row being bright-green when dry, instead of palo brown, and that of tho purple-podded pea being expressed by its name; -in smoothness, that of Danecroft being remarkably glossy, whereas that of tho Ne plus ultra is rugged ;-in being either nearly cylindrical, or broad and flat ;-in being pointed at tho end as in 'l'hw·ston's Belicmce, or much truncated as in the Ame1·ican Dwarf. In tho Atwergne pea the whole end of s1 A variety called tho Rouncivul attains this height, as is stated by Mr. Gordon in 'Transact. IIort. l:ioc.' (2nd series), vol. i., 1835, p. 374, from which pttper I have taken some fact<;. |