THK HISTORY OK THE COWPEA. 55 



species shoTvs a plant with the racemes two or three flowered, but 

 with the pods at maturity smaller and erect, or nearly so, and with 

 smaller seeds. A species grown in the greenhouses of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture shows similar characters, the pods 

 remaining erect until full grown, although they become pendent at 

 maturity. The pods are also conspicuously torose at maturity. This 

 species is Vigna catjang (Burm.) Walp. (PI. I and V\. Ill, B). 

 Practically all of the varieties commonly cultivated in America belong 

 to Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. (F. sinensis (Sticknuin) Endl.), 

 the species with larger seeds and larger pods which usually become 

 pendulous when half their mature size or sometimes even earlier, and 

 which are only slightly constricted l)etween the seeds (PI, IT, and 

 PI. Ill, A). Forskai, 1775 (Fl. Aegypt-Arab., 133), desca-ibed 

 DoUchos luhia as having peduncles racemosely spicate at the apex and 

 the flowers crowded, and it may therefore be inferred that the racemes 

 were several-flowered. The pods were described as erect. The color 

 of the seeds is not mentioned by Forskai, but Delile, 1812 (Plant. Cult, 

 en Egypt, 14), says they were white, with a black point at the eye. 

 Koernicke says the " ring about the navel is pale red," and the seeds 

 labeled D. luhia, recently received from the Museum d'Histoire 

 Naturelle, Paris, are quite small, red, with a black ring at the hiluni. 

 The varieties of Vigna vngiii/ulata commonly cultivated in America 

 seldom vary from the few-flowered character of the raceme and, at 

 maturity, pendulous pods. Delile says Dolichos luhia is known also 

 in Syria, Persia, and India, but there is but one other modern author 

 who has applied the name to any species in Asia. Basiner, 1848 

 (Beitr. Russ. Reich., 15: 233), gives Dolichos luhia as one of the for- 

 age plants of Khiva, where it was known as " Lobia " or " Lobi." No 

 description is given, and therefore its identity Avith Forskal's plant 

 is not certain. ^ 



The fact that Delile says it was found also in India, but does not 

 mention any species of Vigna, suggests that his plant may have been 

 Vigna unguiculata or Vigna catjang. Roxburgh. 1832 (Fl. Ind., 3: 

 302), described Dolichos sinensis as with peduncles '• many-flowered," 

 and D. catjang, few-flowered. Baker, 1879 (Hook. Fl. Brit. Ind., 

 2:206), unites the two as V. catjang and says peduncles 3 to G flow- 

 ered. Baker, 1871 (Oliver, Fl. Trop. Afric, 2:204), describes the 

 racemes of Vigna sinensis as 6 to 12 flowered and the pods pendulous. 

 It appears, therefore that the few-flowered character of the raceme 

 usually observed in varieties cultivated in America is not constant 

 in either Vigna unguiculata or Vigna catjang. The descriptions 

 cited above indicate a variation of from 3 to 12 in the number of 

 flowers, and the plant described by Forskai as Dolichos luhia, since 

 it had erect pods, is doubtless identical with V. catjang. Yet, not- 



102— VI 



