f ERTAIN types of flowers, with- 
out any special examination 
of them, become fixed on the 
mind seven of thenon-botanical; 
and that prevailing throughout 
the great Pea family, with its 
4700 species, is one that is very 
well known by familiarity with the beautiful Sweet 
Peas of the garden, the Furze of the common and 
waste, and the Vetches of the hedgerow. It will 
not be possible within the limits of this chapter to 
pass in review the whole of the seventeen native 
genera comprised in this important family, but we 
may glance at the general structure of the flowers, 
the more important variations of it, and the principal 
kinds of flower-grouping (inflorescence). 
First, however, there is a point in the history of 
these plants upon which I should like to touch briefly. 
The seeds of many of these leguminous plants (pulse) 
have for ages been known for their valuable feeding 
qualities, differing from grain in the fact that they 
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