10 
'i'hc South Australian Naturalist. 
LECTURE, “THE STURL PEA," BY DR. OWEN M. 
MOULDEN, AUGUST S, 1924. — As this flower is the chosen 
emblem of the Field Naturalists’ Section it was particularly fitting 
that it should be made the subject of an evening lecture. All 
those plants which have their fruit in pods belong to the order 
Leguminosae, and it is to this great order of podbearing plants 
that the Sturt pea belongs. And in this order three sub-orders are 
distinguished — miviosoideae (acacias and wattles), caesalpinoidea 
(of which the cassias are members), and papilionnatae (so called 
from the resemblance of the dowers to a butterfly). The Sturt 
pea, the Darling pea, our Hardenhergta (or native lilac) belong to 
this sub-order. The sub-order of papilionauatae contains several 
genera, and the Sturt pea is found in the gnus Clianthus (from two 
Greek words, meaning “glory flower”). The New Zealand glory 
pea is another species of cliaiithus, Sturt pea being known as C. 
speciosvs. The Sturt pea is a perennial for perhaps four years 
under careful cultivation. It has stout, procumbent, upright 
stems, generally a central upright stem, with a number of lateral 
trailing stems, each of these sending out smaller laterals, until 
the plant may form a bush as much as 12 feet in diameter. The 
flowers are large, from three to four inches long, and consist 
of the “standard,” two alae or wings, and the carina, or boat, 
not unlike other peas. The standard is usually two to three 
inches long, of bright scarlet, with a large purplish or brownish 
purple blotch. The pod is long, narrow, and coriaceous, or 
leathery. During 1921 there appeared in the West Darling dis- 
trict a remarkable display of Sturt peas, many times more numer- 
ous than had ever before been observed. One would come across 
acre after acre of these great brilliant red patches on the beauti- 
ful soft olive-green background of the foliage. This wealth of 
bloom was no doubt the result of copious summer rains followed 
by warm, bright weather in the late summer and autumn. The 
root system is very remarkable, a main tap root with smaller 
subsidiary rootlets branching from it downwards 
and outwards. The tap root may have a 
length of from 12 to 20 feet. By this means 
the plant is enabled to reach the great reserves of underground 
moisture. Another interesting feature was the display of colour 
variations, of which at least 30 were observed, ranging from al- 
most pure white, through brown and purple, to the normal scar- 
let. The lecturer then explained his methods of transplanting 
and cultivation, and also of raising plants from seed. The mode 
of fertilizing and prcjpagation were also dealt with, and from 
careful experiments and observation it was concluded that.thev 
were self fertilized, as the stigma was too thickly surrounded 
with its own pollen grains to permit of the introduction of pollen 
from another flower. 
