12 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



cultivated extensively. The seeds of a few species are 

 or have been used as food occasionally; the more note- 

 worthy being the following: 



\ i, i.. IrNili;. Willd., a forage plant of the Mediter- 

 ranean region, the seeds of which may have been eaten 

 but are considered unwholesome by Lewin. \ . monan- 

 ih.is Desf. and \. narbonensis L. also forage plants 

 from the same region are said to have been used occasion- 

 ally as food: \ . pisiformis L. known by the French as 

 •■ lentille du Canada," >. -;iti>;i L. "tare" or "white 

 vetch," and \ . birsuta S. F. Gray are sometimes used 

 like lentils or ground into a flour for various uses. 



3. LENS [Tourn.] Moench Meth. 131. 1794. 



Slender herbs; leaves alternate, usually ending in a tendril; 

 leaflets entire, stipules semi sagittate; peduncles axillary, flowers 

 small, single or few, racemose; cahx with long subequal teeth; 

 similar to those of Vicia, the keel, however, acute or some- 

 what rostrate; ovary subsessile, with 2 ovules; style curved, flat, 

 bearded inside, stigmas small; seeds round, flat. 



There are 5 6 species, natives of the Mediterranean 

 and western Asia. The following is of general interest: 



Lens esculenta Moench, Meth. 131. 1794. — 

 Ervum Lens L.. Sp. PL 738. 1753. Cicer Lens Willd. 

 Sp. PL .5: 1114. 1800. Lens vulgaris Delarb. FL Auv. 

 ed. 2. 472. 1800. Lathyrus Lens Bernh., Syst. Verz. 

 Erf. 248. 1800. Lens sativa Hell. FL Wire. 2:169. 

 1810. Vicia Lens Coss. &Germ., FL Paris 143. 1845. 

 LathyrUS esCUlentUS Grab. FL Oberschles. 214. 

 1843. Lens Lens Huth, Helios. 11:134. 1893. Len- 

 tilla Lens W. F. Wright, Cent. Diet. 5:3410. 1911. 

 Lentil: Linse Germ, i ; lentille (French) ; lente, lentischia, 

 lentilla (Ital. . 



Annual, 10-45 cm high, stem quadangular or almost alate, 

 more or less branched from the base, sparingly hairy throughout; 

 leaves short -stalked, the lower ones with 6, the upper ones with 

 up to 14 leaflets and ending in a single or branched tendril; leaflets 

 short stalked, narrowly elliptical, 1-2 cm long and 3-8 mm or more 

 wide, obtuse, mucronate, green; stipules semi-sagittate, 6 mm long 

 and 2 mm wide; peduncles usually shorter than the leaf, mostly 

 2-flowercd, rarely 1-4 flowered; pedicels 4 mm long; flowers small, 

 nodding. 7 mm long, standard roundish with purplish veins, keel 

 with violet blotched point; calyx teeth narrow, exceeding the petals; 

 pod rhomboid, about 1 cm long and 8 mm wide, somewhat inflated; 

 seeds usually 2, flat, biconvex, with sharp borders, grayish brown, 

 black, yellow, or reddish. 



There exist several varieties which seem to belong 

 to two different races. The one race consists of low, 

 hairy, early-flowering plants with bluish green leaves. 

 Here belong the varieties: 



1 var. piim l.ilniii Alcf. Bonplandia 9:130. 1861. Seeds 



sulphur-yellow with 3-6 black dots. 



2 var. bjrpochloria Alcf. Bonplandia 9:130. 1861. Stems 



green below; seeds grayish brown. 

 3. var. pilramimma Schur Entun. Pi. Tranas. 171. 1866. Plants 

 very hairy. 



The plants of the second race grow higher and 

 stouter, are decidedly green, less hairy, and flower later. 

 Here belong the varieties: 



4 var. nigra Alef. Bonplandia 9:130. 1861. Standard blue; 

 seeds small, black. 



5) var. vulgaris Gren. & Godr. Fl. France 1:476. 1848. 



Standard blue or white with blue veins; seeds whitish yellow 

 or greenish yellow to brownish. This is the most commonly 

 cultivated variety. In warmer countries this is sown in the 

 fall, since it winters well and yields a large crop of seeds and 

 straw. 



6) var. nummularia Alef. Bonplandia 9:130. 1861. — L. nwcro- 



SpermO Baumg. Enum. PI. Transs. 2:346. 1816. Seeds 

 large, yellow, red or black. Grown during the summer only. 



7) var. disperma Rouy in Rouy & Foucaud Fl. France 1:205. 



1899. ErVUtn dispermum Roxb., ex Willd. Enum. Hort. 

 Berol. 766. 1809. Lens esculenta B Sllbsphaerosperma 

 Godr. Fl. Lorr. 1:172. 1843. Seeds much smaller, about 

 1 3 of the type, rounded at the margin, brown and marbled. 

 Much cultivated in France. 



The lentil is probably a native of eastern Asia, 1 

 from Beluchistan and Afghanistan to southern and 

 eastern Persia. It occurs, probably as a subspontaneous 

 plant escaped from cultivation, through northern Africa 

 and the Mediterranean parts of Europe. 



The lentil has been in cultivation from very remote 

 times. Lentil seeds were found in the prehistoric 

 dwellings on the Swiss lakes, in Germany at Schussen- 

 ried, in Switzerland, Italy, and Hungary, and also in 

 the ruir.s of Troy. It was cultivated to a large extent 

 in Egypt and exported from there to Greece and Rome. 

 According to Schweinfurth, the lentil was originally 

 introduced to Egypt from Mesopotamia. 



4. LATHYRUS [Tourn. | L. Sp. PL 729. 1753. 



Low herbs or climbing by branched tendrils; stems often 

 winged; stipules often semi-sagittate; leaves, mostly ending in 

 tendrils; flowers solitary or racemose, frequently large and showy, 

 yellow, white, pink, violet, or blue; bracts small, caducous; calyx 

 oblique, 5-dentatc; standard large, erect, more or less orbicular; 

 wings obovate like the obtuse keel, long clawed; ovary with 2 to 

 many ovules; pod straight, compressed or terete; seeds ± globular or 

 angular, with linear hilum. 



About 100 species, mostly inhabiting the Northern 

 Hemisphere, a few extending along the mountains to 

 tropical Africa and South America. 



Only the following species has been in general culti- 

 vation as a vegetable: 



Lathyrus sativus L. Sp. PL 730. 1753.— Cicer- 

 Cula sativa Alef. Bonplandia 9:147. 1861. 



Ax-vetch, chickling vetch. Deutsche Kicher, Kich- 

 erling, Saat-Platterbse, essbare Platterbse, fahnerbse 

 ( Germ. ) ; gesse, pois breton, pois carre", garousse (French) ; 

 Cicerchia bianca, Cesarella (Ital.). 



Annual, branching from the base, 30-70 cm high, glabrous; 

 stems with 2 broad decurrent wings and 2 angles; stipules semi- 

 sagittate, rather large, shorter than the petioles, about 2-7 cm long. 

 4 mm wide; petioles winged, with 1 pair of leaflets, these linear- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, up to 15 cm long and 3 9 mm wide with 3-5 

 strong veins, somewhat glaucous; peduncles about as long as the 

 petioles, angled, 1- rarely 2-flowered; pedicels equaling the calyx; 

 flowers 1.5-2 cm long; calyx-lobes lanceolate, exceeding the tube; 

 standard whitish and darker veined, pale pink or deep blue; keel 

 greenish white; pod 3 cm long and 1.3 cm broad, compressed with 

 two broad patent wings on the upper (ventral; margin; seeds 2-4 

 rarely 1 or 5i, up to 12 mm broad and 16 mm long, flat, angular, 

 flattened on one side, almost axe shaped, with a small narrow 

 hilum, smooth, grayish brown, spotted with brown, or entirely 

 white. 



I . ii- . -i nl, ni. i Schnittspahni Alef., a native of Asia Minor, is considered by some to be the source of the cultivated 

 liffers from the typical form, except for the blue standard, and white wings and keel. The reddish seeds are minutely 

 and densely spotted. The form'- bunalayenais, persiea, indiea, and abyseinica are very similar. 



