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

canyon pea, common Pacific pea, Pacific pea, Pacific peavine, Pacific vetchling, wild sweetpea

red pea, red peavine, red vetch or pea

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

angled to narrowly winged, sprawling or climbing, basally branched 0–4 times, 2–20 dm.

winged, sprawling or climbing, basally branched 0–3 times, 2–10 dm.

Leaves

4–14 cm;

tendrils well developed;

stipules lanceolate to linear, 5–25 × 1–10 mm, much smaller than leaflets (more than 1/4 width of distal leaflets);

leaflets 6–12, scattered, blades ovate to linear, 12–50 × 5–25 mm, surfaces glabrous or pubescent.

0.5–2 cm, rachises winged as the stem;

tendrils well developed;

stipules lanceolate, 10–20 × 2–6 mm, sometimes as wide as leaflets;

leaflets 2, blades linear, 20–50 × 1–6 mm, surfaces glabrous.

Inflorescences

5–20-flowered, 5–25 cm.

usually 1-flowered, 1–4 cm.

Flowers

12–25 mm;

calyx lobes unequal, lateral lobes deltate, linear-triangular, or lanceolate and wider distal to base, shorter to longer than tube;

corolla cream-white, rose, lavender, blue-purple, or deep wine red, banner erect or reflexed toward calyx tube, blade equal to or longer than claw, wings equal to keel;

ovary glabrous or pubescent.

10–12 mm;

calyx lobes equal, lateral lobes linear-triangular, 2–3 times longer than tube;

corolla reddish purple, banner erect, blade equal to claw, wings equal to keel;

ovary glabrous, style rotated 90° from ovary axis.

Legumes

40–60 × 4–7 mm.

20–40 × 5–10 mm, broadly winged on abaxial suture.

2n

= 14.

Lathyrus vestitus

Lathyrus cicera

Phenology Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Disturbed areas.
Elevation 50–600 m. (200–2000 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
w United States; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America (Argentina, Uruguay)]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

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

Lathyrus cicera is cultivated as an ornamental and occasionally escapes.

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

Key
1. Flowers 16–25 mm, corollas dark wine red, ban­ners reflexed against calyx tube.
var. alefeldii
1. Flowers 12–17 mm, corollas cream-white, rose, lavender, or blue-purple, banners erect.
→ 2
2. Leaflet blades often sparsely to densely pubes­cent throughout, sometimes pubescent abax­ially, glabrous adaxially; flowers rose, lavender, or blue-purple; California, sw Oregon.
var. vestitus
2. Leaflet blades glabrous; flowers cream-white; Puget Sound area to sw Oregon and nw California.
var. ochropetalus
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. 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. angulatus, L. aphaca, L. biflorus, L. brachycalyx, L. brownii, 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. 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. vestitus var. alefeldii, L. vestitus var. ochropetalus, L. vestitus var. vestitus
Name authority Nuttall in J. Torrey and A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 276. (1838) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 730. (1753)
Web links