428 MH. A. W. SUTTON ON RESULTS OBTAINED BY CROSSING 
not possible to-day, so far as I am aware, to find in any locality a plant of 
Pisum sativum in its wild state. The two species, Pisum arvense and Pisum 
sativum, are so different in character, that we naturally assume a distinct 
origin for each, although some authorities claim a common ancestor for both. 
Under these circumstances it was with very special interest that Í noticed in 
1904, in a remote part of Palestine, some small Pea plants which were 
growing in an absolutely wild state, and where there was no possibility 
of their being “escapes” from previous cultivation. 
This wild Pea was in full pod and had lost its blooms, so that L was unable 
to see whether it was most likely to be a variety of “ Pisum sativum”? or 
“ Pisum arvense” ; but as the form of the pods, though exceedingly small, so 
The Palestine Pea, 
much resembled those of the Garden Pea, I clung to the hope that I had 
found an original form of that Pea, rather than of the Field Pea, especially 
as there was no colour in the axils, a character which is invariably seen in 
every commercial type of “ Pisum arvense” I have met with, and is always 
associated with coloured flowers. 
The height of the plant, as I saw it growing in Palestine, was perhaps 
iwo feet or a little less, the growth was by no means robust, and the pods 
were very small, slightly curved and obtuse. 
