The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
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broad-leaf peavine, everlasting or perennial sweet pea, everlasting pea, everlasting peavine, everlasting vetchling, perennial pea, perennial peavine, perennial sweet pea, sweet pea

aspen peavine, lanszwert's pea, lanszwert's vetchling, Nevada pea, Nevada peavine, Nevada sweet pea, pinewood peavine, Rocky Mountain sweetpea, thick-leaf pea, thick-leaf peavine

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

broadly winged, sprawling or climbing, basally branched 1–5 times, 8–20 dm.

angled, erect, sprawling, or climbing, basally branched 0–4 times, 1–8 dm.

Leaves

2–5 cm, rachises broadly winged;

tendrils well developed, branched;

stipules lanceolate, 30–40 × 7–15 mm, at least 1/2 width of stem, much smaller than leaflets;

leaflets 2, blades lanceolate-elliptic, 30–120 × 7–50 mm, surfaces glabrous.

(0.5–)1–8 cm;

tendrils mucronate to well developed;

stipules linear to lanceolate, 5–25 × 1–6 mm, much smaller than leaflets;

leaflets 2–10, scattered, blades lanceolate or linear, 20–70 × 2–20 mm, surfaces glabrous or sparsely pubescent.

Inflorescences

5–15-flowered, 10–33 cm.

2–6-flowered, 2–10 cm.

Flowers

15–20 mm;

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

corolla purple, magenta, pink, or white, banner erect, blade longer than claw, wings equal to keel;

ovary densely glandular-pubescent, style rotated 90° from ovary axis.

7–15 mm;

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

corolla white or blue-purple, banner erect, blade equal to claw, wings equal to keel;

ovary glabrous.

Legumes

50–110 × 5–10 mm.

25–45 × 6–10 mm.

2n

= 14.

Lathyrus latifolius

Lathyrus lanszwertii

Phenology Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat Roadsides, disturbed areas.
Elevation 50–2100 m. (200–6900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; BC; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, South America (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay), Asia (China, Japan), n, e, s Africa, Pacific Islands (Hawaii, New Zealand), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
w North America
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Lathyrus latifolius is widely naturalized in North America and forms large thickets along roadsides, especially in the Pacific Coast states. M. J. W. Godt and J. L. Hamrick (1991) explored genetic variation within the species as it occurs in North America.

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

Varieties 5 (5 in the flora).

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

Key
1. Stems (2–)3–8 dm, usually climbing, sometimes sprawling or erect; tendrils well developed, usually branched.
→ 2
2. Leaflets 8–10; corollas blue-purple; California northward to Washington, eastward to Colorado and Wyoming.
var. lanszwertii
2. Leaflets 6–8; corollas white; w Colorado, c Utah, Wyoming.
var. pallescens
1. Stems 1–3(–4) dm, usually erect (sometimes var. bijugatus sprawling or climbing); tendrils reduced to simple bristles less than 1 cm.
→ 3
3. Leaflets 2–4; e Washington, adjacent Idaho, Montana, British Columbia.
var. bijugatus
3. Leaflets 4–8; California northward to sc Washington and eastward to New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.
→ 4
4. Flowers 7–10 mm; California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington.
var. aridus
4. Flowers 10–15 mm; Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming.
var. leucanthus
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. japonicus, L. jepsonii, L. laetivirens, L. lanszwertii, 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. holochlorus, L. japonicus, L. jepsonii, L. laetivirens, 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. lanszwertii var. aridus, L. lanszwertii var. bijugatus, L. lanszwertii var. lanszwertii, L. lanszwertii var. leucanthus, L. lanszwertii var. pallescens
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 733. (1753) Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 150, fig. 44. (1863)
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