PEA FAMILY 



plants. It often attains the height of ten to fifteen 

 feet. The leaves are tri-foliate on rather long 

 petioles. Early in May the clear lemon yellow pea 

 blossoms, borne in pendulous racemes six to eight 

 inches long, fairly drip from the branches. The 

 flower is a clear yellow, except that the banner 

 bears a small group of reddish brown lines. The keel, 

 as usual, nearly imprisons the stamens, whose united 

 filaments form a protecting tube for the slender pod 

 within. By the middle of Jul}- the pods, one to two 

 inches long, hang in racemes from the branches and 

 later become brown and dry ; finally the}- open, dis- 

 charging each its quota of small, dark brown beans. 



The plant grows freely in any good garden soil, but 

 prefers that with lime in it. Several varieties are in 

 cultivation. 



reft 



