52 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. II, No. i 
areas are unusually symmetrical, so much so as to attract attention, but 
in the buff areas there is a slight tendency to contortion and a more 
unequal tapering of the cell cavity. In other words, there is a hint in 
these cells of the abnormality of form found in a high degree in some 
other cowpeas. The basal-color layer is well supplied with the usual 
yellow melanin-like pigment in all parts of the seed coat. The parentage 
of this cowpea is White No. 7 crossed upon Black No. 22, it being the 
second generation hybrid. 
A cowpea that appears in general purplish black, but somewhat 
unevenly colored, is No. 201-1-2-9. A study of its seed coat makes 
the cause of this evident. Many of the palisade cells contain only one 
anthocyanin pigment—namely, a strong rose purple. This dissolves 
rapidly in water, leaving the cells colorless. In some cases a second 
color remains in the cells and proves to be minute particles of the usual 
melanin-like pigment. In addition to the foregoing a number of the 
cells contain in the lower end a strong deposit of blue alkaline antho¬ 
cyanin. This is more clearly seen after the extraction of the rose- 
colored anthocyanin. The melanin-like pigment is unevenly distributed 
in the palisade layer, many of the cells being destitute of it, so that it 
is safe to state that in some areas of this cowpea this pigment is asso¬ 
ciated with both phases of anthocyanin while in other parts we have 
either the rose anthocyanin alone or the rose and the indigo-blue phases 
of this pigment without the presence of the melanin-like pigment. The 
cross producing this variety is Black No. 13 upon Blackeye No. 19, 
being the third generation from the cross. 
Although No. 239-5-3-18 was referred to under the first division as 
being an essentially cream-white cowpea, the strong purple eye of this 
variety places it in this last division; for by making transverse sections 
in the neighborhood of the hilum where the pigmentation is intense we 
find that the palisade layer contains both the acid and the alkaline 
phase of anthocyanin associated with the melanin-like pigment. The 
rose, acid anthocyanin is quite generally present in these pigmented 
cells, but a large number of them, perhaps two-thirds, are destitute of 
alkaline anthocyanin. The basal-color layer is abundantly colored with 
the usual orange-yellow pigment. As stated, the palisade cells in the 
cream-white seed coat, which constitutes almost the entire surface of 
this cowpea, are unusually irregular in form. It is therefore quite inter¬ 
esting to see that the strongly pigmented palisade cells in the neighbor¬ 
hood of the hilum show no trace whatever of these irregularities. As 
already stated, the hybrid is the third generation of a cross between Wat¬ 
son No. 5 and Taylor No. 14. 
A cowpea having a basal color ranging from pale buff to strong red 
brown and very heavily spotted with black is No. 214-6-7-2. There 
is seen to be a strong brassy yellow pigment in the palisade cells. The 
basal-color layer is usually densely filled with the same colored pigment, 
