PEA FAMILY 



5towms.— Diadelphous, nine and one, or monodelphous below. 

 5/31/6.— Curved, usually twisted, flattened, hairy along the inner side. 

 Pod.— One to two inches long. 



The native land of the present garden race of Sweet Peas is 

 divided between Sicily and far-away Ceylon. The white variety is 

 native to Sicily; the famous old-time pink-and-white species, 

 known as Painted Lady, is credited to Cey- 

 lon; thence, likewise, came the original red 

 out of which all the crimson-scarlet sorts 

 have been produced. 



Father Franciscus Cupani, a devout 

 Italian monk and enthusiastic botanist, 

 is believed to have been, in 1699, the first 

 cultivator of the Sweet Pea, and he is known 

 to have sent its seeds to England and else- 

 where. By 1730 Sweet Pea seeds were an 

 article of commerce, and in 1793 a London 

 seed catalogue listed five varieties of the 

 flower: black, purple, scarlet, white, and 

 Painted Lady. A few additional varieties 

 were added to the number from time to 

 time, but it was not until 1876 that the 

 great improvement was made which placed 

 the Sweet Pea in the royal group of garden flowers. This devel- 

 opment was due to the skill of Henry Eckford, of Shrop- 

 shire, England, a specialist, who in 1876 began work upon the 

 plant as it then existed. Working patiently by means of cross- 

 fertilization and selection, he succeeded in obtaining new colors 

 and larger flowers. His success was especially recognized by the 

 Royal Horticultui-al Society, and by 1898 he had put out about 

 seventy-five varieties of wonderful colors and remarkable size. 

 Florists on the Continent and also other florists in England took 

 up the task. About 1890 an interest in Sweet Peas appeared 

 in America, especially aroused by the size and color of these 

 new English strains. A demand for seed led to the suc- 



236 



Sweet Pea. lAlhyrus 

 odorhtus 



