SWEET PEA. In 1699 a monk found some butterfly-shaped flowers growing wild in the fields of Sicily. He sent a handful of their seeds to a doctor in England. From the offspring of these seeds have been selected the several hundred varieties of sweet peas which are today the daintiest of garden flowers. The sweet pea belongs to the same family as the edible pea. The original flowers were purplish blue in color. Gardeners soon began to select new colors and larger flowers than were found in the wild plant. In the United States interest in sweet peas did not begin until the 1890′s. Today, however, thousands of acres in California alone are devoted entirely to growing sweet peas.

The sweet pea vine has rough, winged stems. The thin, pale green leaves bear tendrils which help to support the plant in climbing. There are two general types of sweet peas; the tall and the dwarf. The fragrant blossoms of each type vary in form from single to hooded double. In texture they vary from smooth and velvety to wavy and crinkled. The colors range from white through all the pastel tints, to blue, red, and purple.

The seeds should be sown in early spring in cool climates or in the fall in warm climates. The soil should be fairly rich and well drained. The bed should be in a rather shady spot. It is important to choose a place where the roots of trees will not rob the soil of richness. The seeds should be planted about six inches apart. They should be covered with about one inch of soil. As the plants come up the earth should be rounded up toward the vines to form a low ridge. Trellises or strings are needed to support the vines. Throughout the season the plants should be cultivated and watered. The blossoms should be picked daily, as flowering stops as soon as seeds are allowed to form. Most abundant flowering occurs when the weather is cool.

ASPARAGUS, a member of the lily family of plants, is a vegetable. About 150 species of asparagus are grown in the temperate parts of the world, but just one (Asparagus officinalis) is usually eaten.

Asparagus grows best in loose, rich, sandy soil. In gardens the seeds are sown early in the spring, though the plants may be started at any time of the year in greenhouses. Asparagus plants must be from two to four years old before they are ready for cutting. Asparagus is a hardy perennial of the lily family, with tuberous roots. The plants are started from seeds and transplanted to a permanent bed in the spring of the second year. They are ready for cutting after they have grown two years in the permanent bed. They continue to produce for 20 years or more. A delicate vinelike variety—wrongly called “smi-lax” by florists—is grown in greenhouses.

The young stems of asparagus plants are used as food. They are cut when the leaves of the plant are small buds and the stems or spears are tender and less than 10 inches high. The young spears are cut each day for six to eight weeks.

After that time the stems begin to get tough and woody as they branch and start to blossom. Each autumn the old stalks of the garden variety are cut down.

If left to grow the plants reach heights of three to four feet. Most asparagus leaves are tiny and fernlike; the flowers are small and yellowish, and the fruits are red berries.

One land of asparagus (Asparagus aspara-goides) is commonly called smilax. Its stiff, shiny leaves are used in flower arrangements. Wild varieties of asparagus grow in Europe and Asia, especially along the seacoasts, and in some parts of the United States.

Asparagus has been a popular food since Greek and Roman times. It is most often cooked in water and eaten hot, but it is also used to make soup or chilled and served in salads.

The asparagus fern is a kind of asparagus used in floral arrangements. It also is a good house plant

Scientific classification. Asparagus belongs to the Llly family, Lillaceae. Edible asparagus is Asparagus officinalis. The asparagus fern is A. plumosus.

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Plantain. The common plantain, also called the broad-leaf plantain, is a species that often troubles gardeners. It may be recognized in spring by its circular cluster of broad light-green leaves that grow from the roots. Tall, slender spikes grow up from the center of the cluster. In the summer, these spikes are thickly covered with tiny green flowers. Other plantains include the narrow-leaf plantain, also known as rib grass, which has narrow leaves and short, thick spikes; and the seaside plantain, which has leaves that are used in medicine to lessen inflammation. The seeds of various types of plantains are used as a mild laxative.

A tropical plant called the plantain is a kind of banana. The fruit of this plant looks much like the banana although it is hard and starchy and is eaten cooked. The plantain’s fruit has become one of the chief foods in tropical countries. A type of flour is made from the fruit of the plantain.

Scientific classification. Plantains belong to the plantain family, Plantaginaceae. The scientific name for the broad-leaf plantain is Plantago major.

Pitcher plant is the name of a family of green plants with pitcher-shaped leaves that form traps for insects. Pitcher plants are called carnivorous plants because they feed on animal life (see Carnivorous plant), like other green plants, pitcher plants make their own food by a process called photosynthesis pitcher plants live in places where they get little nitrogen from the soil. The trapped insects provide nitrogen for the plants. These unusual plants have many local names. Among these names are sidesaddle sower, huntsman’s-cup, and Indian dipper. The common northern pitcher plant grows in marshes and swamps east of the Rocky Mountains from Labrador south to Florida. The lower edges of its leaves are folded together to form a tube, or pitcher. The top edges are left open to form the lid, or spout Rain water collects in these pitchers. Thick, bristly hairs grow at the mouth of each pitcher. These hairs all point downward and inward. Tiny honey glands cover the inner surface of the lid. The smell of the sweet juice attracts insects. Once the insect alights, the hairs prevent its leaving. It slides down to the base of the tube, where it drowns. After a while, the plant digests the insect. The globe-shaped flower of the pitcher plant grows singly on a long, slender stem. It is a deep reddish-purple color. The people of Newfoundland chose the pitcher plant as their provincial flower. A pitcher plant with yellow flowers grows in the Southern States. It has tall, erect, trumpet-shaped leaves. Another species of the pitcher plant, the cobra plant, native to California. Most insects caught by this plant are killed. However, a certain moth and a species of mosquito make their home in the pitcher.

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Lime is a rounded fruit that is pointed at both ends. It is greener than the lemon, to which it is related. It grows on a small citrus tree. The lime tree comes from India. It now grows in the Mediterranean basin, the West Indies, Mexico, Florida, and southern California. Lime trees grow well in southern Florida, where most United States limes are produced. The type most commonly sold in the United States is the Persian lime, but the smaller Key lime is also sometimes available.

The lime tree rarely grows higher than 10 to 12 feet (3 to 3.7 meters). The fruit is important as a source of lime juice and oil of lime, which are used to flavor beverages and food.

Scientific classification. Lime trees belong to the rue family, Rutaceae. The Persian lime is Citrus latifolia. The Key lime is C. aurantifolia.

Slaked lime has a wide variety of uses. It serves as a flux in the production of steel. It also is used in the refining of aluminum, copper, and zinc. Lime “softens” water by removing certain minerals from it, and it plays a valuable role in the treatment of sewage as well many farmers spread lime on their fields to neutralize acid in soil, and homeowners often use lime on their lawns to prevent the growth of moss. Lime also helps.

GOLDENROD is a plant of the family Compositae. There are about 120 species, mostly native to North America. The goldenrod is often spoken of as the national flower of the United States, and in several states it has been adopted as the state flower. The numerous species vary in many ways. They grow on mountains or in plains, in swamps or in dry fields, along the roadside or by the sea. In size they vary from a height of less than one foot to eight feet. Their leaves may be notched or smooth-edged; their stems may be smooth or hairy. All, however, have tiny flowers which grow in thick clusters or long plumes at the end of slender stems, and are followed by feathery fruits and seeds. All are perennials, all belong to the composite family, and all bloom in summer or early fall. Perhaps the most common species is the Canada goldenrod, which has spreading clusters of bright yellow flowers. Among other common species are the sweet goldenrod, whose sweet-scented leaves are sometimes used in making tea or as a source of an oil used in medicine; the white goldenrod, or silverrod, which has creamy white blossoms and long, hairy stems and leaves; and the early goldenrod, whose plumed flowers are often dried for winter decoration. Goldenrods are often troublesome as weeds, since they crowd out less hardy plants and act as hosts to many insect pests and to various mildews and rusts.

They are often blamed for hay fever that is caused by ragweed, which blooms at the same time. Thomas Edison was interested in golden-rods as a possible source of rubber, but the yield of rubber is small in comparison with that of several other plants.

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SORREL. The prettier of the two groups of plants that are called sorrel is the little wood sorrel, or sour grass. It grows in shady woods, in lawns, and gardens throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It has dainty white or yellow flowers. Sometimes it is cultivated for its pleasantly acid, clover like leaves. These are used in flavoring soups, sauces, and salads. Usually, however, the sorrels used for flavoring are the larger plants with arrow shaped leaves. These latter sorrels belong to the buckwheat family. The best known are the common sorrel, which grows wild in meadows, the French sorrel, which is the species most usually cultivated, and the sheep, or red sorrel, which bears hundreds of tiny red fruits. Because its underground stems are wide spreading, it is a troublesome weed. It may be controlled, however, by cultivating the land and applying lime.

Snowball, also called European cranberry bush or Guelder rose, is a handsome shrub of the honeysuckle family. It produces large, ball-shaped white flowers that grow in clusters. The plant is believed to be native to the Dutch province of Gelderland. Today, it is often grown in parks and lawns in the United States. It is a cultivated form of high bush cranberry and grows from 7 to 12 feet (2.1 to 3.7 meters) tall. The flowers of the cultivated species are sterile and do not produce fruit, but a wild variety bears juicy, red berries.

Scientific classification. The snowball is in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. It is Viburnum opulus. Snowdrop is the name of a group of flowering plants native Europe, the Middle East, and western Asia. Some species, including the common snowdrop of Europe, are commonly grown in gardens. Snowdrops bear nodding, white, bell-shaped flowers. Snowdrops are one of the earliest spring flowers, and they sometimes during warm spells in midwinter. Some snow-drops bloom in the fall. The common snowdrop is sometimes called the Fair Maid of February. Snowdrops grow from a small bulb that produces two or three narrow leaves and a flower stalk. The stalk of the common snowdrop usually grows from 4 to 9 inches (10 to 23 centimeters) tall. Snowdrops are easy to cultivate, and they grow best in partial shade and moist soil. The bulbs are planted 3 to 4 Inches (7.5 to 10 centimeters) deep in the fall. The plants multiply each year, and a few bulbs may eventually produce large clumps of snowdrops.

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CARNIVOROUS PLANTS are plants that are able to capture insects and certain other small animals and consume them for food. These plants do not actually chew and swallow their prey as animals do. Instead, most carnivorous plants secrete juices that act life the digestive prices of the stomach. The victim is decomposed by these juices, and the decomposed matter is absorbed into the plant.

The rounded, or spoon shaped, leaves of sundews are covered with tentacles, each of which holds a drop of mucilage (a sticky liquid) at its tip. These drops glisten in the sunlight like dewdrops, thereby giving the plant its name. When an insect crawls onto a leaf, the mucilage holds it fast as the insect struggles to get free the plant secretes more liquid until at last the insect is smothered. In a short time the tentacles close around the insect’s body, and the plant secretes the juice that digests the victim. Digestion may take several days. When it is complete, the tentacles open, and the plant awaits another victim.

Sundews always grow in wet places. They are found in many parts of the world. The greatest variety of species grows in Australia and southern Africa. The few species that grow in North America are widespread across the continent

Butterworts have oval, yellowish-green leaves that are greasy in appearance because of their mucilage coating. When an insect alights on one of these leaves, the mucilage holds it and the leaf begins to curl inward. The plant secretes more mucilage, and, when the insect is trapped, the digestive juices are secreted.

Butterworts are found throughout the North Temperate Zone. The most widespread species is Pinguicula vulgaris, also called the bog violet because its purplish blossoms resemble violets.

Venus’s – Flytraps and Bladderworts. Perhaps the most remarkable of the carnivorous plants are the group that have trap like mechanisms. The leaves of the well-known Venus’s-flytrap (Dionaea) look somewhat like open clamshells. Each leaf is composed of two semicircular halves, or lobes. The outer edges of the lobes are fringed with stiff bristles. On the inner side of each lobe are three extremely sensitive bristles. Insects are attracted to the leaves by nectar secreted near the edges of the lobes. When an insect brushes the trigger hairs, the trap snaps shut and the fringe of outer bristles interlock like fingers of clasped hands. In a few days the captured insect is digested, and the trap reopens. The trap, however, is able to feed only two or three times at the most before it turns black and shrivels up.

The Venus’s flytrap is found only along the coasts of North and South Carolina. It grows nowhere else in the world. It thrives in moist areas, often in company with pitcher plants and sundews.

Bladderworts (Utriculcrim) also capture their victims with trap like parts. These small aquatic plants may be free floating or anchored to the bottom of a pond or swamp pool. Only the flowering stalks rise above the surface. Among the submerged leaves are tiny baglike growths. At the mouth of each of these bladders is a trapdoor. The trapping mechanisms vary among the several species, but the common bladderwort, Utricuhria vulgaris, has stiff bristles at the opening of the trapdoor. Tiny insects or water animals, such as crustaceans and larvae, brush against these trigger bristles, causing the trapdoor to open. The water rushes into the hollow bladder, sucking the creature inside; where it is digested. The trapdoor then resets itself. Unlike the Venus’s flytrap, the bladderwort is able to continue trapping victims for a longer period of time.

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