PISUM SATIVUM, Linn: 



[Firfe Plate XXXIIa.] 



English, pea ; Veenaculae, mattar, gol mattar ; Sanscrit, harenso.f 



Natural order Leguminosce, sub-order PapilionaceoB, tribe Viciece. A smooth glaucous climbing 

 annual with white flowers. Stems stout, terete, hollow, flexuose. Stipules large, 2 in. long and 

 about Ij in. broad, semi-cordate, dentate towards the base, and with a minute mucro at the apex. 

 Leaves alternate pinnate, bi-tri-jugate, the common petiole ending in a more or less branching 

 tendril ; leaflets nearly sessile, ovate, entire or obscurely dentate. Flowers large, irregular, axillary, 

 solitary (in Indian plants), white ; peduncles a little longer than the stipules, ending in a short 

 stoutish seta ; bracts minute caducous ; pedicle \ in. Calyx gamosepalous, persistent ; tube gib- 

 bous at the back, segments ^ in., about equal in length, lanceolate, acuminate, the two posterior 

 ones broader. Standard broadly obcordate, mucronate ; claw short, semi-tubular ; wings a little 

 shorter than the standard, oblong falcate, attached to and converging round the keel ; keel petals 

 obtuse, cohering and forming a wing-like ridge along the top. Stamens 10, diadelphous ; filaments 

 connate in a truncate tube for more than half their length, the free portions dilated upwards. 

 Ovary single, 1-celled, oblong, compressed ; style thick laterally, compressed, bearded on the inner 

 side. Seeds globose, white. 



PISUM ARVENSE, Linn} 



iVide Plate XXXIIb.] 



English, field pea ; Veenaculae, desi mattar, chota mattar, also kalon, kulai, and batana 

 (Jaunsar).§ 



A variety or sub-species of P. sativum, differing from it chiefly by its purplish flowers and 

 compressed marbled seeds. It is a less robust plant, the stems are more slender ; at the base of the 

 stipules there is a reddish purple blotch of exactly the same tint as that of the wing petal ; the 

 peduncles are shorter, the upper ones falling short of the stipules, the free terminal portion is also 

 much shorter ; the flowers are smaller ; the standard is pale lilac, the wings reddish purple, and the 

 keel petals of a yellowish white colour ; and the seeds as mentioned above are very different. 



Eegarding the origin of P. sativum, M. Decandolle, in his recent work above refer- 

 red to, is of opinion that before being cultivated it existed as a wild plant in W. Asia, 

 extending probably from the S. Caucasus to Persia ; that the Aryan people introduced 

 it into Europe, also that it probably found its way to N. India before the arrival of the 



• References -.— Koxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 321 ; Eoyle 111. Him. 200 ; Hook. Fl. Brit. Ind. ii. 181 ; Coiss. Fl. Or. ii. 622 ; 

 Baden-Powell Punj. Prod. 242 ; DC. L'Orig. PI. Cult. 262. 

 f Piddington Index p. 70. 

 % See above under P. sativum. 

 § Atkinson in Gaz. N.-W. P. I.e. 



D 



