312 



LEGUMINOS. CLXVII. CICER. CLXVIII. FABA. 



toothed ; calyx very gibbous at the base, with the segments 

 shorter than the wings of the corolla. O- H. Native of Son- 

 garia and Persia. The flowers and the fruit are almost twice 

 the size of those of C. arictinum. 

 Songarian Chick-pea. PI. 1 foot. 



3 C. SOLONIE'NSE (Schranck. not. pi. dec. Frioul, p. 49.) pe- 

 duncles elongated, 1 -flowered; leaves with 2 pairs of leaflets, 

 lower ones obovate, middle ones oblong, upper ones linear. 

 . H. Native of Europe. 



Solon Chick-pea. PI. 1 foot. 



4 C. ? NUMMULARIFOLIUM (Lam. diet. 2. p. 2.) stem filiform, 

 slender ; leaves simple, obovate, entire, hairy ; peduncles 2-3- 

 flowered ; calycine segments obtuse ; legumes cordate. O- H. 

 Native of the East Indies. Pluk. aim. t. 389. This plant 

 ought to be perhaps excluded from the present tribe. 



Money-mort-leaved Chick-pea. PI. prostrate. 

 Cult. The seeds of these plants require only to be sown in 

 the open ground in the spring. 



CLXVIII. FA V BA (from <j>ayM, phago, to eat ; the esculent 

 seeds of the common bean are well known). Tourn. inst. t. 222. 

 U. C. fl. fr. 4. p. 598. prod. 2. p. 354. Vicia species of Lin. 

 and others. 



LIN. SYST. Diadelphia, Decundria. The character of Faba is 

 nearly the same as that of Vicia, but differs principally in the 

 great size of the legume, which is coriaceous, and rather tumid, 

 and in the seeds being oblong, not round, and in thehylum being 

 terminal, not lateral. Erect plants, with abruptly-pinnate leaves 

 uitli or without a simple tendril. 



1 F. VULGA'RIS (Mcench. meth. p. 130.) leaves thick, with 2-5 

 broad, oval, mucronate leaflets ; stipulas semi-sagittate, oval ; 

 tendrils of leaves almost wanting ; teeth of calyx almost linear. 

 O- H. Said to be found wild on the confines of Persia, not far 

 from the Caspian Sea, and is now cultivated to a great extent in 

 gardens and fields, for the sake of its seeds. Vicia Faba, Lin. 

 spec. 1039. Flowers white, with a blackish-blue silky spot in the 

 middle of the wings. The legumes almost terete, or flat, 

 green or black. Seeds more or less roundish, or very broad and 

 flat, varying much in size. 



Var. a, hortensis ; seeds flat, white, usually large. There are 

 the following varieties of the garden bean. 



1 Mazagan-bcan. An excellent early bean. It was brought 

 from a Portuguese settlement just without the straits of Gibraltar. 

 The seeds of this are even smaller than the horse-bean. If the 

 seeds of this sort are sown in October under a warm hedge, pale, 

 or wall, and carefully earthed up when the plants are advanced, 

 they will be fit for the table by the middle of May. 



2 Early Portugal or Lisbon-bean. This appears to be the 

 Mazagan sort saved in Portugal. It is the kind used by gar- 

 deners for their first crop, but it is not so well tasted as the Ma- 

 zagan ; therefore when the Mazagan-bean can be procured no 

 one would think of sowing this sort. 



3 Small Spanish-bean. This will come in well for the second 

 crop, soon after the Portugal, and as it is rather a sweeter bean, 

 it should be preferred to it. 



4 Broad Spanish-bean. This is a little later than the last 

 sort, and being a good bearer is therefore frequently sown. 



5 Sandwich-bean. This comes in soon after the broad-Spa- 

 nish, and is almost as large as the Windsor-bean, but being 

 hardier is commonly sown a month sooner. It is a plentiful 

 bearer, but not a very delicate sort for the table. 



C Toker-bean. Is ready for use about the same time as the 

 Sandwich, and is a great bearer, but rather a coarse bean. 



7 White and black-blossomed beans are by some persons much 

 esteemed ; the seeds of the former when boiled are almost as 

 green as peas ; and being a tolerably sweet sort renders it more 



valuable. These two sorts are very apt to degenerate if the 

 seeds are not saved with great care. 



8 Windsor-bean. Tiiis is allowed to be the best of all the 

 sorts for the table. When sown on a good soil, having plenty of 

 roots, the beans will be very large, and when gathered young 

 they are the sweetest and best tasted of all the sorts. This sort 

 is seldom sown before Christmas, because it is found not to bear 

 the frost so well as many other sorts ; so it is generally sown for 

 the principal crop to come in in June and July. 



9 Fan or cluster-bean. This sort is chiefly sown for curiosity. 

 It is dwarf C or 10 inches high, with branches spreading like a 

 fan, and flowers succeeded by small pods, both in clusters. 



10 Long-podded-bean. A very tall kind, and a good bearer; 

 the pods long and narrow, closely filled with oblong middle-sized 

 seeds. Of this there are several subordinate varieties, as the 

 early Turkey, &c. 



11 While blossomed-bean. The flowers are pure white, hav- 

 ing none of the black marks on the wings. The seeds are 

 semi-transparent, and have less of the peculiar bean flavour 

 when young than any of the others, and are by some persons 

 esteemed on that account. It bears abundance of smallish, long, 

 narrow pods, and the seeds are almost black when ripe. 



12 Rcd-blossomed-bean. This is a very shewy plant ; the 

 blossoms very red, without any mixture of white. It bears 

 smallish pods and seeds, which are not very palatable, and the 

 plant is therefore only grown for curiosity. 



There are a number of other varieties of the garden- bean, such 

 as the green-nonpareil, Munford, &c., but they are hardly worth 

 notice. 



The following varieties of the field or horse-bean are worth 

 cultivating. 



Var, ft, equlna ; the common horse-bean, from which perhaps 

 all the varieties have originated. 



1 Common field or horse-bean. This is the kind most com- 

 monly sown for agricultural purposes. 



2 Tick-bean. This is lower in stature than the former, but 

 is a more plentiful bearer, and succeeds better on light land. 

 There are several subordinate varieties of this kind, such as the 

 Flat-Ticks or May-beans, Small or Essex Ticks, and French 

 Ticks. Some of the garden-beans are taken into field culture 

 in Kent, as the Taker, Windsor, Long-podded, Spanish or Lis- 

 bon, and the Mazagan-bean ; besides others cultivated only in 

 small quantities for supplying the London seedsmen. 



* Garden beans, their culture and uses. 



Estimate of sorts. The Mazagan is one of the hardiest and 

 best flavoured of the small and early sorts. The Lisbon is next 

 in point of earliness and fruitfulness. The dwarf-fan or cluster- 

 bean is likewise an early variety, but it is planted chiefly for 

 curiosity. The Sandwich-bean has been long noted for its fruit- 

 fulness. The Taker and the broad-Spanish are also great 

 bearers. Of all the large kinds, however, the Windsor-bean is 

 preferred for the table. When gathered young, the seeds are 

 sweet and very agreeable. There are several sub-varieties of 

 the Windsor-bean, such as the Kentish- Windsor and Taylor' s- 

 Windsor. The long-podded-bean rises about 3 feet, and is a 

 great bearer. This sort is now very much cultivated, and there 

 are several sub-varieties of it, as the early, the large, and the 

 sword-long-pod. The n'hite-blossomed-bean, so called because it 

 is destitute of the black mark on the wings of the blossom so 

 conspicuous in other kinds. The seed is transparent, and when 

 young has little of the peculiar bean flavour, and is on that 

 account much esteemed ; it is at the same time a great bearer, 

 and proper for a late crop. Delauney, in Le Bon Jardinier, de- 

 scribes as excellent a new variety cultivated about Paris, which 

 he calls the green-bean from China. It is a late sort, but very 



