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cream pea, cream vetchling, cream-flower peavine, cream-flower sweet pea, creamy peavine, pale vetchling

Habit Herbs perennial, from rhizome, glabrous except calyx ciliate. Herbs perennial, from rhizome.
Stems

angled, sprawling or climbing, basally branched 0–3 times, 3–8 dm.

angled, erect or sprawling, basally branched 0–2 times, 1.5–3 dm.

Leaves

(2–)3–10 cm;

tendrils well developed;

stipules somewhat foliose, ovate-lanceolate, 15–35 × 5–20 mm, sometimes equal to distal leaflets;

leaflets (5 or)6(–8), usually paired, blades broadly ovate to lanceolate, (20–)25–65 × 10–35(–42) mm, surfaces glabrous.

1–4 cm;

tendrils bristlelike, usually less than 1 cm;

stipules linear to lanceolate, 10–30 × 1–5 mm, nearly equal to leaflets;

leaflets 8–12, often paired, blades lanceolate to linear, 10–35 × 1–5 mm, surfaces glabrous or pubescent.

Inflorescences

4–10(–13)-flowered, 3–12 cm.

2–6-flowered, 4–11 cm.

Flowers

10–15 mm;

calyx lobes unequal, lateral lobes lanceolate, usually longer than tube;

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

ovary glabrous.

16–22 mm;

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

corolla usually violet to magenta, sometimes white, banner erect, blade longer than claw, wings 4–5 mm longer than keel;

ovary glabrous.

Legumes

30–70 × 4–7 mm.

35–50 × 8–12 mm, stipitate.

2n

= 14.

Lathyrus ochroleucus

Lathyrus decaphyllus

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Moist woodlands, clearings, thickets, glades, meadows.
Elevation 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; IA; ID; IL; IN; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SD; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
wc United States
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Key
1. Herbs mostly glabrous.
var. decaphyllus
1. Herbs sparsely to densely villous.
var. incanus
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. latifolius, L. littoralis, L. nevadensis, L. nissolia, 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. 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. 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. decaphyllus var. decaphyllus, L. decaphyllus var. incanus
Synonyms L. nevadensis subsp. stipulaceus
Name authority Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 159. (1831) Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 471. (1813)
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