THE PEA FAMILY, 125 



cells of the two cotyledons, as in peas, beans, lentils, 

 etc. 



As this is a very important family, it is desirable 

 to examine some flower of considerable size to under- 

 stand all its parts, so I will take the garden sweet- 

 pea as a good example. The kitchen-pea would do 

 equally well. 



Fig. 46, I., shows a leaf, a blossom, and a young 

 pod just beginning to form. There are a small pair of 

 stipules at the base of the leafstalk. These are very 

 large, like two leaf-blades, in the kitchen-pea. The 

 leaf has only two perfect leaflets, the rest being changed 

 into sensitive tendrils. These are continually "bow- 

 ing around," or circumnutating, so as to catch hold 

 of twigs ; for as soon as they feel the pressure, they 

 coil round them, and so firmly support the plant. 



Now let us examine a flower. There is an 

 irregularly shaped calyx of five coherent sepals (II.), 

 an irregular corolla of five petals named as follows, 

 already referred to in speaking of Lucerne ; but I 

 will repeat them here. The large petal at the back 

 is the Standard ; the two at the sides are the Wings ; 

 the two in front, united along the lower edge, foi'm 

 the boat-like Keel. These latter include the ten sta- 

 mens and the pistil as shown in (III.), which is a 

 vertical section through the flower. 



The ten stamens have nine united with one free 

 above (IV.). This enables the bee to get to the 



