PEAS AND PEA-LIKE PLANTS 453 



least. Weeviled seed shows greatly reduced germination, 

 usually not over half of the seeds making plants. 



In Ontario both grass-peas and chick-peas have been 

 grown to some extent in place of field peas, as they are not 

 attacked by the pea-weevil 



CHICK-PEA (Cicer arietinum) 



545. The chick-pea is probably a native of western 

 Asia. It was cultivated in ancient Greece and probably 

 quite early in India. The plant has numerous other 

 names, among them coffee bean, Idaho pea, Egyptian pea, 

 Gipsy pea, garbanzo and Madras gram. At the present- 

 day its culture is important in India, Syria, Spain and 

 Mexico, being grown mainly for the seeds, which are used 

 as human food. 



The plant is a branched annual, growing to a height of 

 1 to 2 feet ; leaves odd-pinnate with 7 pairs of oval toothed 

 leaflets ; flowers small, white or pink, solitary ; pods thin, 

 inflated, less than 1 inch long, each having 1 or 2 seeds. 

 The whole herbage is sparsely covered with glandular 

 hairs which secrete an acid substance. 



The varieties are numerous, differing in the size and 

 shape of the seeds, and in Palestine, it is said, in their soil 

 and seasonal adaptations. The variety grown in Spain 

 and Mexico is that with the largest seeds, which are pale 

 straw color. 



In a general way the adaptations of the chick-pea are 

 like those of the common garden pea, the plant requiring 

 a cool season for its best growth. 



It does not, however, withstand humidity as well as the 

 garden pea, preferring a rather dry atmosphere. The 

 crop is grown in winter in India, Spain, Mexico and to a 



