Lathyrus japonicus
Lathyrus tracyi
beach or maritime or sand pea, beach pea, beach vetchling, maritime pea, sea pea, seaside pea
Tracy's pea, Tracy's sweet pea
angled to narrowly winged, erect, sprawling, or climbing, basally branched 0–4 times, 1–10 dm.
angled, erect, sprawling, or climbing, often branched mid stem 1–4 times, 2–6 dm.
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.
2–6 cm;
tendrils absent to well developed, 0–3 cm, usually not branched;
stipules linear, 5–15 × 1–5 mm, much smaller than leaflets;
leaflets 4–8, often paired, blades ovate, 15–30 × 5–20 mm, surfaces glabrous, or linear, 30–70 × 1–10 mm, surfaces glabrous or pubescent.
4–9-flowered, 4–15 cm.
5–15-flowered, 2–7 cm.
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.
7–13 mm;
calyx lobes unequal, lateral lobes often linear-triangular, sometimes lanceolate, shorter than tube;
corolla white, banner erect, blade equal to claw, wings equal to keel;
ovary glabrous.
35–65 × 6–12 mm.
40–60 × 4–7 mm.
= 14.
Lathyrus japonicus
Lathyrus tracyi
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.)
Although W. L. Jepson (1909–1943, vol. 2) treated Lathyrus tracyi of northwestern California as a variety of L. bolanderi S. Watson (= L. vestitus), D. Isely (1992, 1998) considered L. tracyi a variety of L. lanszwertii. Lathyrus tracyi includes both ovate- and linear-leaflet forms. Linear-leaflet populations certainly suggest a relationship to L. lanszwertii, but ovate-leaflet forms, the presence of mid stem branching, and differences in floral structures suggest that L. tracyi may be better allied to L. holochlorus found to the north in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon and southwestern Washington. Lathyrus tracyi has been reported from Jackson County, Oregon, but specimens could not be examined.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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 |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
