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

thin-leaf pea, thin-leaf vetchling

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.

angled to narrowly winged, sprawling, often branched mid stem (at or just proximal to flowering nodes), 3–10 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.

6–10 cm;

tendrils well developed;

stipules lanceolate to linear, 10–20 × 1–8 mm, much smaller than leaflets;

leaflets 8–12, usually paired, sometimes scattered, ovate to lanceolate, 20–45 × 15–25 mm, glabrous.

Inflorescences

4–9-flowered, 4–15 cm.

7–15-flowered, 5–15 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.

12–14 mm;

calyx lobes unequal, lateral lobes linear-triangular, shorter than or equal to tube;

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

ovary glabrous.

Legumes

35–65 × 6–12 mm.

40–70 × 4–9 mm.

2n

= 14.

Lathyrus japonicus

Lathyrus holochlorus

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Roadside fencerows, stream banks, grasslands, open oak woodlands.
Elevation 50–500 m. (200–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
North America; Eurasia [Introduced in s South America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
OR; WA
[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 holochlorus is restricted to the Willamette Valley of western Oregon and at least one site in southwestern Washington.

(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. delnorticus, L. eucosmus, L. glandulosus, L. graminifolius, L. grimesii, L. hirsutus, L. hitchcockianus, 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
Synonyms L. ochropetalus subsp. holochlorus
Name authority Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 3: 1092. (1802) (Piper) C. L. Hitchcock: Revis. N. Amer. Lathyrus, 31. (1952)
Web links