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

broad-leaf peavine, everlasting or perennial sweet pea, everlasting pea, everlasting peavine, everlasting vetchling, perennial pea, perennial peavine, perennial sweet pea, sweet pea

beach pea, beach peavine, dune sweet pea, gray beach or silky beach pea, gray beach pea, grey beach peavine, silky beach pea, silky beach vetchling

Habit Herbs perennial, from rhizome, glabrous. Herbs perennial, from rhizome, cinereous and densely villous throughout.
Stems

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

angled, sprawling, basally branched 0–4 times, 1–4 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.

1–3 cm;

tendrils flattened bristles;

stipules ovate to lanceolate, 10–27 × 5–12 mm, often larger than leaflets;

leaflets 4 or 6, paired, blades obovate to oblanceolate, 10–20 × 4–8 mm, surfaces densely villous.

Inflorescences

5–15-flowered, 10–33 cm.

4–8-flowered, 3–10 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.

13–15 mm;

calyx lobes equal, lateral lobes deltate, equal to or shorter than tube;

corolla dark purple, banner erect, blade longer than claw, wings longer than keel;

ovary densely pubescent.

Legumes

50–110 × 5–10 mm.

20–30 × 9–13 mm.

2n

= 14.

= 28.

Lathyrus latifolius

Lathyrus littoralis

Phenology Flowering May–Sep. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Roadsides, disturbed areas. Coastal sand dunes, deflation plain interdune areas.
Elevation 50–2100 m. (200–6900 ft.) 0–15 m. (0–0 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 FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[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.)

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. lanszwertii, L. latifolius, 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 Astrophia littoralis
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 733. (1753) (Nuttall) Endlicher in W. G. Walpers: Repert. Bot. Syst. 1: 722. (1842)
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