

A MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF CICER ARIETIXUM 



Theo. Holm 



(with plates xlii-xliv) 



Cicer arietinum has an interesting history; the generic name 

 was proposed by Pliny, the specific by Dodonaeus, and both were 

 accepted by Linnaeus. Of the seven known species of the genus, 



lm 



It has been ( 



cultivated for many years, and at present it is not known in its 

 wild state. According to de Candolle 1 it was evidently intro- 

 duced from the Orient, and this writer has given an interesting 

 account of its history. At the time of Homer the plant was 

 cultivated by the Greeks under the name " erebinthos " ; by 

 Dioscorides it was called "krios " on account of the seed resem- 



a • >? 



bling somewhat the head of a ram; the Romans called it "cicer, 

 from which the names "chiche" (Italy) and "pois chiche" (France) 

 are derived; the name "kikere" is used by the Albanians. 

 Although extensively cultivated in Egypt since the beginning of 

 the Christian era, it does not seem to have been known to the 



Egypt 



names used in Spain 



("garbanzo" or "garbantzua") is uncertain, being 

 nor Latin. In Sanscrit it is called ' 

 Bretschneider the olant was cult 



chennuka 



the four- 



introduction 



west. In Greece the dried seeds are salted and roasted, and are 

 known as "stragalia" according to Heldreich. 2 In our western 

 states the seeds are used for coffee, hence the name "coffee-pea." 

 For several years I have grown the plant in my garden at Brook- 

 land, D.C. Although it is a member of the Vicieae, it shows a 

 very peculiar habit, and the structure is interesting in several 



1 De Candolle, Alphoxse, Origine des plantes cultivees. Paris. 1886. 



2 Heldreich, Th., Die Xutzpflanzen Griechenlands. Athens. 1862. 



Botanical Gazette, vol. 70] [446 



