Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea (Lathyrus odoratus), a familiar garden annual plant belonging to the natural order Leguminosæ. It is a native of Sicily and other parts of the south of Europe, and has been cultivated for its beautiful and fragrant flowers in British gardens for about two hundred years. The varieties are very numerous, distinguished chiefly by the different shades of colour of the flowers. It is cultivated as a hardy annual, and is so hardy that it may be sown in autumn and will not only withstand the cold of winter in all but the coldest districts, but will bloom earlier and better than when sown only in spring. Sowing in the latter season is, however, necessary to provide prolongation of bloom. Other species of Lathyrus are of interest either as ornamental plants or for the food for man or cattle which they yield. The Everlasting Pea (L. latifolius) is an old favourite in flower-gardens on account of its handsome but scentless flowers. The roots of L. tuberosus are eaten in Holland and other countries where it grows plentifully. The Chickling Vetch (L. sativus) is much used in Switzerland as fodder for cattle. The seeds ground into meal make palatable bread, but to its use was ascribed sudden attacks of loss of power and rigidity of the limbs in both men and the lower animals, which were so prevalent in the latter part of the 17th and early in the 18th cen- tury that an edict was issued forbidding its use. Mixed with half the quantity of wheat-flour it is said to be wholesome; the peasantry in Italy use it in this way.