
244 PLANTS GROWING IN SANDY SOIL. 
PARTRIDGE PEA, LARGE SENSITIVE PLANT, 
(Plate CXX V.) 
Cassta Chamecrista. 
FAMILY | COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 
Senna. Yellow. Scentless. Middle states southward Late summer. 
and west tothe Rockies. 
Flowers: large; growing on slender axillary flower-stalks. Calyx: of five 
almost separate petals. Corolla: one and a half inches broad; of five pet- 
als; four of which are nearly equal and two dotted with purple at the base; the 
fifth one being larger. Stamens: ten; anthers, irregular, of which some are 
Jaden with a yellow, others with a purple, pollen. sti: one. Pod: flat. 
Leaves: pinnate; divided into ten to twenty pairs of small, linear, sensitive 
leaflets which close when roughly handled, the lowest pair possessing a club- 
shaped gland at the base. 
When looking at the illustration it would appear as though 
the wild senna and the partridge pea had, to amuse themselves, 
played at exchanging their leaves, for the eye naturally associ- 
ates the larger leaves with the larger flowers. Just the reverse, 
however, is true, and the strength that has been reserved in the 
small leaves of the partridge pea, bursts forth in the large 
bright flowers which enliven many a sandy bank in late summer. 
It is especially in the south that its bloom is most perfect. The 
sensitiveness of these plants to the touch is a curious feature. 
BEACH PEA, (Plate CXXVZ) 
Lathyrus marttimus. 
FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 
Pulse. Violet purple. Scentless. Along the coast. Summer and early autumn. 
Flowers: clustered on slender axillary peduncles. Calyx: of five unequal 
sepals. Corolla: showy; papilionaceous. Stamens: ten; united. festil: 
one. Pod: long; narrow. Leaves: divided into three to five pairs of oval, 
smooth leaflets ; the common petiole ending in a tendril. Stem : stout; leafy. 
Wending our way through the sand dunes that guard the 
approach to the seashore we pass the beach pea growing in 
low clumps, There is a healthy look about its soft green 
spotless leaves, and the varying tones of its purple flowers har- 
monise well with the white sand. We cannot help but fancy 
that it feels a subtle joy in its powers as it stretches out its 
firm tendrils to raise itself upward. . 

