CHAPTER I 



HISTORY, EVOLUTION, CLASSIFICATION AND 

 CULTURE ^ 



Among the annual flowers none excel 

 the sweet pea in beauty, usefulness, fra- 

 grance, and range of color. No annual 

 flower is more popular. If the rose is the 

 Queen of Flowers, the sweet pea is a truly 

 royal princess worthy of her train. This 

 flower has long been grown in England 

 and America; of late years it has been 

 gaining in favor in continental Europe; 

 and it is also extensively grown in far-off 

 Australia and Tasmania. 



The sweet pea is a native of the island 

 of Sicily. It was first mentioned in 1695 



*By Professor A. C. Beal of Cornell University. 

 9 



