LATHYRUS ROTUNDIFOLIUS. 
ROUND-LEAVED LATHYRUS. 
Class. Order. 
DIA DELPHI A. DECANDRIA. 
Natural Order. 
LEGUMINOSEjE. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Introduced 
Tauria. 
2 feet. 
June, Sept. 
Perennial. 
in 1822. 
No. 511. 
The origin of the word Lathyrus is acknowledged 
to be of very doubtful origin. It is, by most authors, 
thought to have been derived from the Greek, la, 
to increase, and thouros, any thing exciting. 
The Lathyrus rotundifolius, which we now intro- 
duce to notice, is a showy, free-flowering perennial 
species, which is very little known ; nor is it quite 
certain through what channel it was introduced to 
this country. It has long been cultivated in the 
Oxford Botanic Garden ; and there is much reason 
for supposing that it may have been originally in- 
troduced there by Dr. Sibthorpe. If so, it had re- 
mained many years without becoming much known 
to English botanists. It is of lower stature than 
either the Lathyrus latifolius, (common everlasting 
Pea,) or the Lathyrus grandiflorus, but of more ro- 
bust habit than the latter. 
The culture of this pea is of the simplest descrip- 
tion : it may be increased by division at the root, 
therefore requires no further care than that of being 
planted in any common soil. Its seeds are ripened 
in moderate abundance, from which it may also be 
propagated. 
Don’s Syst. Bot. 2, 332. 
