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 or two, or several flowers in a small
cluster, are borne on the same peduncle; and this is a difference which
with some of the Leguminosae is considered of specific value. 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 those of the _Pois
nain hatif_, but _Hairs' 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, an