HISTORY AND EVOLUTION 13 



by hand in a work entitled "Twelve Months of Flowers," 

 " designed by Peter Casteels, from the collection of 

 Robert Furber, gardener at Kensington, and engraved 

 by H. Fletcher." In the June number appears the 

 purple Sweet Pea. At that time the flower was very 

 loose and straggling, the standard small and reflexed, 

 and the wings very large and awkwardly arranged. 

 The colour was a greyish-purple, shaded brick red. An 

 explanatory catalogue issued by the above-mentioned 

 Robert Furber was the first trade offer of Sweet Peas, 

 the purple variety only being offered. The possession 

 of this seed may doubtless be ascribed to Dr Uvedale, 

 to whom it had been sent by Cupani. 



A work entitled the " Universal Gardener and 

 Botanist," was published some years later, and under the 

 heading of Lathyrus, we find " Varieties of, are purple- 

 flowered Sweet Pea, white-flowered Sweet Pea, varie- 

 gated or Painted Lady, Sweet scented pea." From this 

 notice we are able to determine the fact that at that 

 time there were three distinct varieties known and 

 cultivated. 



Subsequently, in 1754 we find " The Scots Gardeners' 

 Director " by James Justice, F.R.S. Edinburgh. Rivalry 

 between Dutch and British seedsmen was very keen at 

 this period ; the former making a great effort to capture 

 the trade in flower seeds, catalogues of an unreliable 

 character being distributed broadcast throughout the 

 country. The said Justice was evidently indignant, for 

 he observes of their catalogues that "they are neither 

 rightly named botanlcally or otherwise." He then 

 proceeds to quote from one catalogue as follows : " No. 

 176, Lathyrus odorato jlore albo et rubro var legato. No. 

 I77> Lathyrus odor ate jlore purp. et rubro variegato." Says 

 Justice, " The first named is the Lathyrus angustifolius 

 jlore ex albo et rubro variegate odorato, mentioned by J 

 Bauhinus 1650. This is the Painted Lady pea vulgo, 



