220 GARDEN FLOWERS. 



obtusifolia (blunt-leaved) ; hardy annual ; i foot ; flowers yellow, 

 in July; Chili ; 1833. 



Lathyrus. [Leguminosae.] A genus of showy hardy 

 plants, annual and perennial, mostly climbers. The best of 

 them is the Sweet-pea ( L. odo7'atiis) ; and there is not among 

 the annuals a better nosegay flower than this, nor, now that 

 there are many varieties, is there a more lively garden orna- 

 ment. It has been attempted to grow the different colored 

 varieties separate, and a majority will sometimes prove like 

 the parent, but they do not look so well any way as mixed. 

 They may be sown in pots, in a warmish frame, in March, for 

 early bloom : and two months afterwards they may be sown 

 in the borders of the open ground : others may be sown in 

 May and June if a succession is desired. They grow in any 

 good light soil, and all the attention they require is to be 

 furnished with a few bushy branches stuck in the ground 

 for them to cling to. If they are not allowed to seed, and 

 the decayed blooms are removed as fast as they decline, the 

 bloom will continue some time ; but, if they are allowed to 

 swell their pods, the bloom goes off much sooner. The per- 

 ennials may be raised by seeds or by division, and merely 

 require to be planted in the position they are to occupy per- 

 manently, and to have pea-stakes put to them annually for 

 their branches to climb over. 



L. Altaicus (Altaic) ; hardy perennial ; 2 feet ; flowers violet, 

 in June; Altai; 1832. L. Ari}iitageanus (Armitage's) ; hardy 

 climbing perennial ; 8 feet ; flowers purple-blue, in May ; Bra- 

 zil ; 1824. L. decaphylliis (ten-leaved); hardy climbing peren- 

 nial ; 4 feet ; flowers red and lilac, in June ; North America ; 

 1827. L. grandiflo7^2is (large-flowered); hardy climbing peren- 

 nial ; 4 feet ; flowers pale and deep rose, in July ; south of Eu- 

 rope ; 1 8 14. L. /^//yb/z^/j- (broad-leaved) ; hardy perennial; 5 

 feet ; flowers pink, in August ; England. L. Af acr^i (McR^ie^s) ; 

 hardy climbing perennial ; 3 feet ; flowers purple and white, in 



