84 TEPHROSIA VIRGINIANA. VIRGINIAN GOATS-RUE ; HOARY PEA. 



Though so common in the wild regions of the East, it has not 

 yet found its way into cultivation in our gardens, and, indeed, it 

 does not appear to be in any of the gardens of Europe, although 

 the people there make great efforts to get everything attractive 

 from all parts of the world. It has, no doubt, often been intro- 

 duced there, but seems impatient of horticultural restraint and 

 gradually pines away. Indeed, an English floricultural writer 

 of sixty years ago says of it, " Though this plant is tolerably 

 hardy in our country, it is nevertheless difficult to preserve it in 

 gardens, for the seeds rarely ripen in England and the plants are 

 often destroyed in winter by the frost." It may be observed that 

 the frost it endures here is more severe than any in Europe, 

 but it is found that many plants which have a high summer heat 

 will endure more cold in winter, and in this way the cooler 

 summer temperature of Europe is not favorable to great endur- 

 ance in the winter season. In relation to the difficulty of keep- 

 ing it alive in Europe, Mr. Philip Miller, another celebrated 

 garden-writer of the past age, says, " The only method by which 

 I have been able to keep these plants has been by potting them 

 and placing the pots under a common frame in winter, where 

 they enjoyed the free air in mild weather, but were protected 

 from frost ; they have been kept in this way for three years, but 

 never ripened seed in our climate.." 



Although, as we have said, there are a great many points of in- 

 terest in the Virginian Hoary Pea, yet the plant is by no means of 

 the highest type of beauty. The thick peduncle, suddenly termi- 

 nating in the short, thick-set cluster, has a rather " hunchbacked " 

 look, and the gray green is odd, but that is all. The elegance 

 of its leaf-outlines is its redeeming feature. Still it is a plant 

 much more worthy of culture than many which have a place in 

 gardens, and our own florists might perhaps be more successful 

 with it than those of England. 



Explanation of the Plate. — i. A flowering branch. — 2. Under ground stem, or rhizome. 



