DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES 



49 



Evolution. Refs. 79, 80: N. Y. Sta. Rpt. 7:136. 

 1889. Evolution originated about 1882 and reached 

 America in 1886. Laxton. who bred it, says: " A 

 remarkably fine but unfixable pea; " but the latter 

 failing has apparently been remedied, since there seems 

 to be little difference between the peas described here in 

 1888, in 1893 (Bui. 69), and recently. 



In general, it has a much branched stem of medium height, 

 dense, dark green foliage, is productive tho late, bears large, round 

 oval, deep green peas and grayish green or deep green dimpled 

 or slightly wrinkled peas; but it is especially notable for its fine, 

 3'o to 4 inch long, broad, plump, distinctly curved pods well filled, 

 rich deep green in color, usually borne in pairs. 



The beautiful pods were favorites at the numerous 

 exhibitions of peas in England. 



Ameer iRefs. 85 91 ) originated about 1885 from 

 crosses made by Thomas Laxton, probably between 

 undistributed seedling peas, one an early blue wrinkled 

 type, and the other tracing to Little Gem. He sold the 

 stock to Harrison (2), who introduced the variety. It 

 received a First Class Certificate from the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society in 1885 and an Award of Merit in 1901. 

 It was reintroduced by Hurst, about 30 years later. 

 Seed from the earlier introduction reached America 

 about 1898: but most American stocks probably trace 

 to the reintroduced stock either in the original or an 

 improved type. From a general similarity of its pods 

 to those of Alaska, tho they are much larger, Ameer 

 is often known as Large-podded Alaska, which leads to 

 great confusion, as there are true Alaska-type peas 

 bearing this name and that of Long-podded Alaska. 



Claudit, introduced considerably later and a dis- 

 tinct pea, was quite similar to Ameer; and both names 

 have become synonyms of both varieties; while Ameer, 

 particularly, has also been confused with Bountiful and 

 Acquisition. 



It is almost impossible to be certain, now, that any 

 American stock is that of the true Ameer. Most of 

 those sold appear to be much shorter in vine than those 

 described in English references, the one grown at the 

 Station, from seed raised by a widely known and very 

 careful seedsman, being only 2 feet in height. It is 

 known to grow half taller than this elsewhere. This 

 strain agrees in foliage color, general shape and color 

 of pods, peas and seeds, in productivity and in season, 

 with those grown in England but the pods are somewhat 

 shorter, rarely exceeding 3 inches, and less curved. 

 Seeds and peas are of medium size, only, the seeds being 

 mixed cream and green, oval or square, and only slightly 

 indented. It was ready in midseason and gave a fair crop. 



British Lion. Refs. 92, 92a; Jour. Roy. Hort. 

 Soc. 41:283. 1915; Hallawell Cat. 1924. When first 

 introduced, before 1886, British Lion was said to be 

 much better than Telephone, which was regarded as one 

 of its parents, bearing its pods nearer the ground. The 

 other parent was Omega, the cross being made by Lax- 

 ton. We have no record of its early arrival in America, 

 but seeds came to us from the Idaho Station in 1922. 



Height 314 feet: stems moderately stout, branched at the base; 

 foliage abundant, medium to light green, leaflets in 4s; flowers at 



10th node; pods single on short, rather heavy stalks; from 3 ' g to 

 3J-2 inches, very uniform, moderately broad, plump, straight, with 

 rounded, tipless ends, filled both to tip and edge, medium green 

 in color; peas averaging 6, large, round oval, very dark green. 

 Seeds medium in size, round to oval, slightly indented, shallowly 

 pitted or slightly wrinkled and grayish green or light green in color. 

 Edible peas were ready in early midseason and the crops were fair 

 to good. 



The same or another unseparable British Lion 

 again came into attention in England about 1913, and 

 was probably the source of an American reintroduction 

 in 1924 as " a new semi-dwarf early variety having large, 

 dark green pointed pods; a very heavy cropper." Only 

 a partial description was secured here from plants grown 

 from this stock, but no characteristic differences were 

 noted. 



Still another pea of this name was highly recom- 

 mended by the Royal Horticultural Society (Jour 52: 

 109. 1927) in 1926. This is said to have been raised 

 by Cullen; but seems to differ but little from Laxton's 

 British Lion. 



The British Lion listed in the U. S. Patent Office 

 Report for 1865 could not have been any of those 

 described above. 



Early Prize (Ref. 95) is an American pea, originat- 

 ing before 1889 with a Mr. Read of Vermont, and said 

 to be a Tom Thumb x Advancer cross. 



It appears to maintain very well its dwarf character, as it 

 was only 1 ? 4 feet high as grown here recently; pods paired; not as 

 long as early descriptions would imply, rarely reaching 3 inches; 

 more abrupt at the ends and contained as many or more peas than 

 in earlier tests. The pods and peas were only fair in color and of 

 medium size; but the green color and marked dimpling of the seeds 

 indicate good quality; and the crops were good. 



Bountiful (Refs. 96-100) was introduced by Sut- 

 ton in 1892 after trial by the Royal Horticultural 

 Society in 1891. It is said to have come from crossing 

 Sangster No. 1 and Telephone, and was like Ameer, but 

 considered superior to it. It was given XXX, the 

 highest rank, by the Society in 1896 and again in 1915; 

 and seems to have been thoroughly fixed in type in 

 England but as brought to America, about 10 years 

 after its introduction, it proved much shorter-vined, tho 

 retaining the pod and pea characters of the original; 

 and as grown here for three seasons it was still more 

 dwarf. The height in England was from 3}_> to 5 feet; 

 early American references make it 2 ' ■> to 3 feet, and in 

 our tests it was usually under 2 feet. 



Vine slender, showing Sangster No. 1 influence; foliage 

 abundant, medium green in color, with 4 small, even-colored leaflets 

 and slightly larger, somewhat whitened stipules; pods generally 

 single; usually from 2 :i 4 to 3 inches long, but occasionally here and 

 generally elsewhere, somewhat longer, moderately broad, plump, 

 slightly curved, medium green in color, filled both to the edge and 

 to the pointed and tipless end; peas 7-8, moderately large, round 

 or indented and oblong, medium to dark green. Seeds medium 

 or small in size, round oval, indented, slightly pitted, and occasion- 

 ally almost wrinkled. Pods were ready with or slightly earlier 

 than those of Ameer, and crop about the same, almost good. 



Bountiful Big Pod, spoken of in 1913 as new and of 

 English origin, was probably only Bountiful, tho said 

 to be of marked branching habit, not a Bountiful 

 characteristic. 



