The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

beach or maritime or sand pea, beach pea, beach vetchling, maritime pea, sea pea, seaside pea

Del Norte pea

Habit Herbs perennial, from rhizome, glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Herbs perennial, from rhizome, glabrous.
Stems

angled to narrowly winged, erect, sprawling, or climbing, basally branched 0–4 times, 1–10 dm.

narrowly winged, erect to climbing, basally branched 0–several times, 2–8 dm.

Leaves

3–15 cm;

tendrils usually well developed, branched or unbranched;

stipules sagittate-ovate, 7–35 × 7–30 mm, as large as basal leaflets;

leaflets 6–12, usually scattered, blades ovate to lanceolate, 15–55 × 5–35 mm, surfaces glabrous throughout or pubescent abaxially.

9–13 cm;

tendrils well developed;

stipules lanceolate, 10–30 × 3–15 mm, sometimes equal to distal leaflets;

leaflets 9–12, scattered, blades lanceolate, 30–50 × 5–15 mm, surfaces glabrous.

Inflorescences

4–9-flowered, 4–15 cm.

8–12-flowered, 7–10 cm.

Flowers

12–29 mm;

calyx lobes unequal, lateral lobes linear-triangular, longer than tube;

corolla blue to purple, banner erect, blade longer than claw, wings equal to keel;

ovary eglandular and glandular-pubescent.

9–12 mm;

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

corolla cream-white, banner erect, blade longer than claw, wings equal to keel;

ovary glabrous.

Legumes

35–65 × 6–12 mm.

30–40 × 3–5 mm.

2n

= 14.

Lathyrus japonicus

Lathyrus delnorticus

Phenology Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Serpentine areas along rivers and creeks in coniferous and mixed evergreen forests.
Elevation 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
North America; Eurasia [Introduced in s South America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

Within Lathyrus japonicus, in the narrow sense, there is a south to north reduction in plant size, including plant height, robustness, and leaflet size, but not flower size, flower number, or fruit size. On the east coast of North America this shift seems fairly abrupt, giving the appearance of a clear distinction between var. maritimus and var. pellitus in the south, and var. japonicus to the north in Labrador and Greenland. However, on the West Coast, there are few truly pubescent forms (var. pellitus), and there seem to be many more intermediates between var. maritimus in the south and var. japonicus to the north.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Lathyrus delnorticus is restricted to Del Norte and western Siskiyou counties in California, and Curry and Josephine counties in Oregon.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Stems 1–3.5 dm; leaflet blades 15–35 mm; tendrils unbranched, less than 3 cm.
var. japonicus
1. Stems 3–10 dm; leaflet blades 30–50(–55) mm; tendrils branched, 3+ cm.
→ 2
2. Leaflet blades glabrous.
var. maritimus
2. Leaflet blades pubescent abaxially (especially new growth).
var. pellitus
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Lathyrus Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Lathyrus
Sibling taxa
L. angulatus, L. aphaca, L. biflorus, L. brachycalyx, L. brownii, L. cicera, L. decaphyllus, L. delnorticus, L. eucosmus, L. glandulosus, L. graminifolius, L. grimesii, L. hirsutus, L. hitchcockianus, L. holochlorus, 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
L. angulatus, L. aphaca, L. biflorus, L. brachycalyx, L. brownii, L. cicera, L. decaphyllus, 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
Subordinate taxa
L. japonicus var. japonicus, L. japonicus var. maritimus, L. japonicus var. pellitus
Name authority Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 3: 1092. (1802) C. L. Hitchcock: Revis. N. Amer. Lathyrus, 30, fig. 21. (1952)
Web links