PHASEOLUS MUNGO (wOOLLY PYROLUS) 149 



PHASEOLUS MUNGO (WOOLLY PYROLUS). 



The Woolly Pyrolus was unknown to the Greeks and 

 Romans, for it appears to have been imported from India 

 by Arabs, who introduced it into Egypt and Southern 

 Europe. 



The fact that these peas are mentioned in a book pub- 

 lished at Anvers in 1567, entitled " Plantes et Racines," 

 from the pen of a Portuguese doctor, seems to show that 

 their cultivation in Spain and Portugal has been practised 

 for ages past. 



Martens relates having seen them in a corn merchant's 

 shop in Venice, where they were called Fasioletti del 

 India; as a matter of fact, they certainly did not come from 

 India, but from Genoa, and had been grown and obtained in 

 that district. This represents M. Denaiffe's opinion, from 

 whose book, " Les Haricots," we have borrowed the above 

 lines. 



Phaseolus mungo is a species of bean which requires a 

 warm climate for its successful development, and is in all 

 probability a native of India. It is an erect plant, from 

 50 cm. to I metre in height. The leaves resemble those of 

 the common bean, and are hairy and wrinkled. The 

 yellowish-green flowers arise in pairs at the extremity of 

 the common peduncle which springs from the leaf axil 

 and rises above it. The pods, from 6 to 8 cm. long, are 

 straight, cylindrical, and terminate in a short point. They 

 contain from ten to fifteen seeds 5 mm. long and 4 mm. 

 thick. 



There are a number of varieties in existence, and analyses 

 of several are published by Professor Church in the Bulletin 

 of the Department of Agriculture of Sydney (Australia). 



lOO'O lOO'O lOO'O 



