Culture of the Sweet Pea 



683 



about, together with other Papilionaceae. The plant has all the appearance 

 of being of spontaneous form, and not an imported one. The above 

 locality has been but very rarely visited and it is apparently to be ex- 

 cluded that L. od. was brought there. It is surprising that the Lathyrus 

 has been found in but a few places, but this does not mean much. From 

 what I could de- 

 duct, the plant 

 grows in three or 

 four places in Sic- 

 ily and it has also 

 been found in Sar- 

 dinia. 



" Our most 

 learned men re- 

 tain that the La- 

 thyrus is really an 

 indigenous kind in 

 Sicily, because it 

 presents all the 

 characters of 

 being of spontane- 

 ous growth. The 

 flowers of our kind 

 are purple (pur- 

 purea), while 

 those of Ceylon 

 are rose-colored . 

 This could be a 

 variation due to 

 the climate, but I 

 was unable to find 

 out if the Lathy- 

 rus varies or if the 

 white-flowered 

 variety is found 

 growing spontane- 

 ously." 



It has already been noted that the early writers considered Sicily as 

 the native country of the sweet pea. Bunnann was the first to catalog 

 a sweet pea from Ceylon, which he admitted differed only in the color of 

 the flowers from the Lathyrus described by Cupani. However, he pro- 

 ceeded to found a new species upon the sole character of difference in 



Fig. 183. — Kniphof s figtire of the sweet pea. (Kniphof, Botanico 

 in Originali, 1757-1763) 



