THE PRIDE OF CALIFORNIA.
Lathyrus splendens, Kell. Pea Family.
Stem.—Climbing; six to ten feet. Leaflets.—About eight; scattered; very variable; linear to lanceolate or oblong; acute; mucronate; strongly three- to five-nerved. Tendrils.—Two- to five-parted. Stipules.—Small; semi-sagittate. Peduncles.—Stout; usually seven- to ten-flowered. Flowers.—Very large; brilliant crimson. Calyx.—Five-toothed; eighteen-nerved. Standard and keel an inch or more long. Pods.—Three inches long; smooth; compressed; ten- to twenty-seeded. Hab.—Parts of San Diego County, and southward.
Clambering over our wild shrubs, this wonderful pea gives them the appearance of being loaded with a magnificence of bloom quite unwonted. The blossoms are the richest and most gorgeous of crimsons throughout, and have such a superb air that it is difficult to believe they are not the product of centuries of careful selection by the gardener. The long standard turns back over the stem, continuing the gracefully outlined keel in a long compound curve. The blossoms hang from the stem in charming abandon, like a flock of graceful tropic-birds poising upon the wing before taking flight, or like a fleet of gayly decked pleasure-barges, with canopies thrown back, fit for the conveyance of a Cleopatra.
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