28 



HARDY PERENNIALS AND 



seldom met with; notwithstanding its good habit and colour. It 

 is one of those happy subjects which most conduce to the fresh- 

 ness and wild beauty of our gardens; the dark and glossy 

 verdure is charmingly disposed in embowerments by means of 

 the delicate twining stems ; and though it grows apace, there is 

 never an unsightly dense or dark mass, so commonly seen in 

 many climbers, but, instead, it elegantly adorns its station, and 

 the outlines of its pretty pinnate leaves may easily be traced 

 against the light. 



FIG. 14. APIOS TUBEBOSA. 

 (One-twelfth natural size ; a, flower, natural size.) 



As may be seen by the illustration (Fig. 14), it is in the way 

 of a climbing bean. The flowers are purple and borne in small 

 clusters from the axils of the leaves, and, of course, as indicated 

 by the order to which it belongs, they are like pea flowers ; they 

 are produced a long time in succession, providing the frosts do not 

 occur ; they have the scent of violets. The leaves are distantly 

 produced on fine wiry stems, which grow to the length of 12ft. ; 

 they are pinnate, the leaflets being of various sizes, oval, smooth, 

 and of a dark shining green colour. 



The roots are not only peculiar in the way already mentioned, 



