Flora of North America species comparison

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Lathyrus pusillus

singletary vetchling, tiny pea
Habit Herbs annual, glabrate.
Stems

narrowly winged, sprawling or climbing, basally branched 0–4 times, 3–6 dm.
Leaves

1–3 cm;

tendrils well developed;

stipules linear, 10–20 × 2–5 mm, equal to smaller leaflets;

leaflets 2, blades linear, 15–60 × 2–8 mm, surfaces glabrous.
Inflorescences

terminal, 1- or 2-flowered, 2–4 cm.
Flowers

7–10 mm;

calyx lobes subequal, linear-triangular, usually longer than tube;

corolla blue, banner erect, blade equal to claw, wings equal to keel;

ovary glabrous.
Legumes

30–50 × 2–4 mm.
2n

= 14.

Lathyrus pusillus
Phenology Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Roadsides, pastures, prairies, open habitats.
Elevation 0–800 m. (0–2600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; KS; LA; MO; MS; NC; OK; TX; VA; South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Lathyrus pusillus, the only North American member of section Notolathyrus, a section centered in South America, is also the only annual species of Lathyrus native to North America. It is native to the southeastern United States; it has been cultivated as a forage crop in Oregon and occasionally escapes, but it has not become naturalized there.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa 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. ochroleucus, L. odoratus, L. palustris, L. pauciflorus, L. polyphyllus, L. pratensis, L. rigidus, L. sphaericus, L. splendens, L. sulphureus, L. sylvestris, L. tingitanus, L. torreyi, L. tracyi, L. tuberosus, L. venosus, L. vestitus
Name authority Elliott: Sketch Bot. S. Carolina 2: 223. (1823)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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