LATHYRUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



LATHYRUS. 



643 



live for many years. Most of the species 

 ripen seed freely, and all may be divided 

 either in autumn or spring. 



L. latifolius (Everlasting Pea). One 

 of the hardiest and most easily cultivated 

 of plants, thriving almost anywhere, even 

 in courtyards amongst flags. There are 

 good white varieties and some striped with 

 deeper coloured flowers than the old 

 kind. All are peculiarly suited for rough 



The White Everlasting Pea (Lathyrus latifolius 

 albus). 



places, and will scramble over bushes. 

 Staking, tying, and training only spoil 

 them. An old tree-stump, or the side of 

 a trellis or summer-house, is where they 

 delight to grow undisturbed, but there are 

 many uses for this fine plant and its 

 forms in the flower garden, and in rich 

 hedge-banks it would be easy to naturalise. 



In warm seasons these Peas ripen seed 

 in the south and on warm soil, and advan- 

 tage should be taken of increasing the 

 stock in this way. Generally, however, 

 little if any seed is borne. 



L. grandiflorus (Two-flowered Ever- 

 lasting Pea) is a very handsome plant 



for the early summer garden, succeeding 

 anywhere, and, as the name implies, is 

 the largest-flowered species, the blooms 

 being as large as those of a Sweet Pea. 

 It is at its best in June and early July, the 

 flowers usually borne in pairs, of a rosy- 

 purple colour, the stems in good soil 

 reaching 6 ft. It is one of the hardiest of 

 the genus, and from its neat and free- 

 flowering habit a very useful border- 

 plant, common in cottage gardens. It has 

 not so far varied in colour as the Ever- 

 lasting Pea, but it may do so yet, and 

 varieties of it would be welcome. 



L. rotundifolius (Persian Ever- 

 lasting Pea). This pretty Everlasting 

 Pea is also known under the name 

 of L. Drummondi, but there is no neces- 

 sity for this name, as it only leads to 

 confusion. This is a very old species, but 

 it is not so common as the larger kinds, 

 though good from its carliness and free- 

 dom of flowering. It grows about 5 ft. 

 high, the leaves are nearly round, the 

 flowers in large clusters, bright rose-pink, 

 about an inch in diameter, and open in 

 early June. It is of easy culture, and 

 increased by division. Asia Minor and 

 Persia. 



L. Sibthorpi (Early Everlasting Pea}. 

 This is valuable because it is so early, 

 being at its best in May and June. It 

 does not grow very tall, rarely more than 

 2 or 3 ft., but it bears many fine spikes of 

 delicate flowers of a beautiful purplish-red 

 colour. In Mr. Thompson's garden at 

 Ipswich there is a fine bed of this pretty 

 and somewhat rare species. The plants 

 are all in a large nursery bed, and are 

 supported with a few branched stakes, 

 upon which the flowers cluster in rich 

 masses. It has been in cultivation at 

 Oxford Botanic Garden for many years, 

 and is said to have been introduced by 

 Sibthorp. It flowers a month earlier than 

 L. rotundifolius, and may be increased by 

 division or seed, but is not so vigorous in 

 ordinary conditions as the commoner 

 Everlasting Peas, and should until plenti- 

 ful be planted in warm borders. 



L. tuberosus (Tuber Pea} is a pretty 

 low-growing kind, with flowers of a bright 

 dark pink. It is found in many of our 

 cornfields, and is cultivated in Holland for 

 the tuberous roots, which are said to be 

 edible. The tubers are about 2 in. long, 

 broadest at the root end and tapering to 

 the apex. It will be found a useful plant 

 for the flower border, it being a true 

 perennial, of neat habit, and very free- 

 flowering. It climbs like other Peas, but 

 also grows in little tendril-bound heaps with- 

 out any further effort at going higher, and 

 T T 2 



