They differed greatly in height,-- namely from between 6 and 12 inches to 8 feet (9/84. A variety called the Rounciva attains this height, as is stated by Mr. Gordon in 'Transact. Hort. Soc.' 2nd series volume 1 1835 page 374 from which paper I have taken some facts.),--in manner of growth, and in period of maturity. Some differ in general aspect even while only two or three inches in height. The stems of the Prussian pea are much branched. The tall kinds have larger leaves than the dwarf kinds, but not in strict proportion to their height:--HAIR'S DWARF MONMOUTH has very large leaves, and the POIS NAIN HATIF, and the moderately tall BLUE PRUSSIAN, have leaves about two-thirds of the size of the tallest kind. In the DANECROFT the leaflets are rather small and a little pointed; in the QUEEN OF DWARFS rather rounded; and in the QUEEN OF ENGLAND broad and large. In these three peas the slight differences in the shape of the leaves are accompanied by slight differences in colour, in the POIS GEANT SANS PARCHEMIN, which bears purple flowers, the leaflets in the young plant are edged with red; and in all the peas with purple flowers the stipules are marked with red.
In the different varieties, one, two, or several flowers in a small cluster, are borne on the same peduncle; and this is a difference which is considered of specific value in some of the Leguminosae. In all the varieties the flowers closely resemble each other except in colour and size. They are generally white, sometimes purple, but the colour is inconstant even in the same variety. In WARNER'S EMPEROR, which is a tall kind, the flowers are nearly double the size of the POIS NAIN HATIF; but HAIR'S DWARF MONMOUTH, which has large leaves, likewise has large flowers. The calyx in the VICTORIA MARROW is large, and in BISHOP'S LONG POD the sepals are rather narrow. In no other kind is there any difference in the flower.
The pods and seeds, which with natural species afford such constant characters, differ greatly in the cultivated varieties of the pea; and these are the valuable, and consequently the selected parts. SUGAR PEAS, or POIS SANS PARCHEMIN, are remarkable from their thin pods, which, whilst young, are cooked and eaten whole; and in this group, which, according to Mr. Gordon includes eleven sub-varieties, it is the pod which differs most; thus LEWIS'S NEGRO-PODDED PEA has a straight, broad, smooth, and dark- purple pod, with the husk not so thin as in the other kinds; the pod of another variety is extremely bowed; that of the POIS GEANT is much pointed at the extremity; and in the variety "A GRANDS COSSES" the peas are seen through the husk in so conspicuous a manner that the pod, especially when dry, can hardly at first be recognised as that of a pea.
In the ordinary varieties the pods also differ much in size;--in colour, that of WOODFORD'S GREEN MARROW being bright-green when dry, instead of pale brown, and that of the purple-podded pea being expressed by its name;- -in smoothness, that of DANECROFT being remarkably glossy, whereas that of the NE PLUS ULTRA is rugged; in being either nearly cylindrical, or broad and flat;--in being pointed at the end, as in THURSTON'S RELIANCE, or much truncated, as in the AMERICAN DWARF. In the AUVERGNE PEA the whole end of the pod is bowed upwards. In the QUEEN OF THE DWARFS and in SCIMITAR PEAS the pod is almost elliptic in shape. I here give drawings of the four most distinct pods produced by the plants cultivated by me.
(FIGURE 41. PODS AND PEAS. I. Queen of Dwarfs. II. American Dwarf. III. Thurston's Reliance. IV. Pois Geant sans parchemin. a. Dan O'Rourke Pea. b. Queen of Dwarfs Pea. c. Knight's Tall White Marrow. a. Lewis's Negro Pea.)
In the pea itself we have every tint between almost pure white, brown, yellow, and intense green; in the varieties of the SUGAR PEAS we have these same tints, together with red passing through fine purple into a dark chocolate tint. These colours are either uniform or distributed in dots, striae, or moss-like marks; they depend in some cases on the colour of the cotyledons seen through the skin, and in other cases on the outer coats of the pea itself.