SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Phaseolus caule volubili; vexillis, carinaque spiraliter convolutis.
Kidney-bean with a twining stem; standards and keel spirally twisted from the left to the right.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. The Cup.
2. The Standard.
3. One of the wings, shewn from the outside.
4. One of the wings, shewn from the inside.
5. The Keel.
6. The Chives.
7. The Pointal.
As a singular vegetable production, we have given a specimen of this most curious flower, but not as a novelty, as it is, certainly, rather common, the seeds having frequently been brought to us from Portugal, (to which country it was first introduced from Brasil in South America), ever since the year 1690. It is a climbing plant and must be kept in the hot-house, is propagated by seeds or cuttings, grows to the height of 12 or 14 feet, and should be planted in rich earth. The flowers are produced about August; they are very fragrant, but have not much duration, and the plant has much the resemblance of the common scarlet kidney-bean.[Pg 107]
PLATE CCCXLII.
COBBEA SCANDENS.