PEA FAMILY. Fabaceae. 



There are numerous kinds of Lathyrus, widely dis- 

 tributed and difficult to distinguish. In technical charac- 

 ter and habit they very much resemble Vetches, but 

 sometimes have no tendrils and the flowers are larger, the 

 leaflets are broader, and the style is flattened and hairy, 

 not only at the tip, but also along the upper side. The 

 leaflets are equal in number, the leaf-stalk usually ter- 

 minating in a branching tendril; the flowers are in clusters; 

 the calyx with five teeth, the upper commonly shorter; 

 the style flattened and usually twisted; the pod flat or 

 cylindrical, with no partitions between the seeds. Lathy- 

 rus is the old Greek name of the Pea. 



This has flowers resembling the culti- 



Narrow-leaved yated g weet p but the whole effect fe 

 Sweet Pea . 



Lathyrus more airy and graceful. It is a loosely- 



graminifdlius trailing vine, with slender, angled stems, 

 Pink and violet long, narrow leaflets, eight in number, and 



Spring three-cleft tendrils. The flowers are 



Arizona .. . . , 



about three-quarters of an inch long, 



brightly yet delicately tinted with shaded pink and violet, 

 and are so lightly poised on the long slender stalks that 

 they look like a row of butterflies about to take flight. 

 This grows on the plateau in the Grand Canyon and all 

 through Arizona in the mountains. 



A smooth, trailing perennial, very 

 Utah Sweet Pea ' , . ' , ,,**.** 



Lathyrus graceful, with beautifully tinted flowers 



Utahensis and bright green foliage. The stipules 



Wac are large, broad and leafy, and the leaflets 



Spring, summer are usua y y ten j n number, veined and 

 thin in texture, one or two inches long, 

 with tendrils. The flowers are nearly an inch long, from 

 four to eight in a cluster, on a long flower-stalk; the 

 standard pinkish-lilac, delicately veined with purple, the 

 wings pale lilac and the keel cream-color. The flowers, 

 as they fade, although keeping their form, gradually change 

 in color to all shades of blue, turquoise, and sea-green, 

 finally becoming buff, so that the effect of the whole 

 cluster is iridescent and very lovely. This grows on 

 mountain slopes, often in oak-thickets, clambering over 

 the bushes to a height of several feet and clinging to every- 

 thing with its tendrils. 



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