Flora of North America species comparison

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Lathyrus brownii

Brown's brush pea, Brown's pea, Brown's sweet pea
Habit Herbs perennial, from rhizome, glabrous.
Stems

angled, sprawling, basally branched 0–3 times, 2–5 dm.
Leaves

4–6 cm;

tendrils well developed;

stipules linear, 5–15 × 1–5 mm, much smaller than leaflets;

leaflets 6–10, scattered, blades ovate to linear, 15–40 × 1–10 mm, surfaces glabrous.
Inflorescences

2–4-flowered, 3–4 cm.
Flowers

12–16 mm;

calyx lobes unequal, lateral lobes deltate, shorter than tube;

corolla purple, banner erect, blade longer than claw, wings longer than keel (by 1–3 mm);

ovary glabrous.
Legumes

30–40 × 5–8 mm.

Lathyrus brownii
Phenology Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Stream banks, open ponderosa pine forests.
Elevation 800–1800 m. (2600–5900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Lathyrus brownii has been variously allied with L. pauciflorus (C. L. Hitchcock 1952) or with L. lanszwertii (R. C. Barneby 1989). It is distinct from L. pauciflorus by its smaller leaflets and flowers and by its range (northeastern California and adjacent Nevada and Oregon versus Colorado and Utah to Idaho, northeastern Oregon, and eastern Washington), and from L. lanszwertii by its larger flowers, smaller leaflets, general absence of pubescence, and its more typical prostrate, sprawling habit.

C. L. Hitchcock (1952) considered Lathyrus schaffneri Rydberg as described by L. Abrams and R. S. Ferris (1923–1960, vol. 2) to be referable to L. brownii.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Lathyrus
Sibling taxa
L. angulatus, L. aphaca, L. biflorus, L. brachycalyx, L. cicera, L. decaphyllus, L. delnorticus, L. eucosmus, L. glandulosus, L. graminifolius, L. grimesii, L. hirsutus, L. hitchcockianus, L. holochlorus, L. japonicus, L. jepsonii, L. laetivirens, L. lanszwertii, L. latifolius, L. littoralis, L. nevadensis, L. nissolia, L. ochroleucus, L. odoratus, L. palustris, L. pauciflorus, L. polyphyllus, L. pratensis, L. pusillus, L. rigidus, L. sphaericus, L. splendens, L. sulphureus, L. sylvestris, L. tingitanus, L. torreyi, L. tracyi, L. tuberosus, L. venosus, L. vestitus
Synonyms L. lanszwertii var. brownii, L. pauciflorus subsp. brownii
Name authority Eastwood: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 30: 491. (1903)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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