264 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND PLANTS 



that the bean is a South American contribution, a conclusion 

 that is strengthened by the fact that shortly after the Spanish 

 discovery the bean was mentioned almost simultaneously in 

 several widely separated regions of the Old World. 



Candolle sums up as follows : ^ '' (i) Phaseohis vulgaris has 

 not been long cultivated in India, the southwest of Asia, and 

 Egypt ; (2) it is not certain that it was known in Europe be- 

 fore the discovery of America ; (3) at this epoch the number 

 of varieties suddenly increased in European gardens and all 

 authors commenced to mention them ; (4) the majority of the 

 species of the genus exist in South America ; (5) seeds appar- 

 ently belonging to the species have been discovered in Peru- 

 vian tombs of an uncertain date, intermixed with many species, 

 all American." 



The pea. This familiar plant exists in two species of interest 

 to agriculture : 



1. The field pea {Pisum an>ensc), grown both for its seed 

 and its forage as stock food. This species undoubtedly grows 

 wild in the Mediterranean countries, possibly also in the south 

 of Russia, and has been only recently introduced into cultivation. 



2. The garden pea {Pisum sativtim), generally ranked as a 

 separate species, but more than likely developed from the above 

 by cultivation ; at any rate it has been longer known to cultiva- 

 tion than has the less-improved field pea. It was cultivated by 

 both the Greeks and the Romans, and a small-seeded variety 

 has been found in the lake dwellings of Switzerland and Savoy 

 (age of bronze). There seems to be no indication of its ancient 

 cultivation in either Egypt or India. 



The vetch {Vicia sativa)^ or tare, a leguminous plant closely 

 related to the pea, is wild over nearly all of Europe, in Algeria, 

 and in Asia Minor, as are several related species, especially 

 Vicia americana, in this country. 



diversifolitis, Phaseohis helvohis, and Phaseolus paucifloi-us. See Gray under 

 Phaseolus. 



1 " Origin of Cultivated Plants," p. 343. 



