d 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 {328} 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.

[Illustration: Fig. 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. d. 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. In the different varieties the pods
contain, according to Mr. Gordon, from eleven or twelve to only four or
five peas. The largest peas are nearly twice as much in diameter as the
smallest; and the latter are not always borne by the most dwarfed
kinds. Peas differ much in {329} shape, being smooth and spherical,
smooth and oblong, nearly oval in the _Queen of Dwarfs_, and nearly
cubical and crumpled in many of the larger kinds.

With respect to the value of the differences between the chief
varieties, it cannot be doubted that, if one of the tall _Sugar-peas_,
with purple flowers, thin-skinned pods of an extraordinary shape,
including large, dark-purple peas, grew wild by the side of the lowly
_Queen of the Dwarfs_, with white flowers, greyish-green, rounded
leaves, scimitar-like pods, containing oblong, smooth, pale-coloured
peas, which became mature at a different season; or by the side of one
of the gigantic sorts, like the _Champion of England_, with leaves of
great size, pointed pods, and large, green, crumpled, almost cub