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Lathyrus sativus L.

White pea (en), Lentille d'Espagne (fr), Gesse cultivée (fr), Pois carré (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Lathyrus

Characteristics

Annual herbs, 30-50(-70) cm tall. Stem suberect, gla­brous, winged. Leaves with tendril at apex; rachis winged; stip­ules semisagittate, 18-25 × 2-5 mm; leaflets 1-paired, lanceo­late to linear, 18-25 × 2-5 mm, with parallel veins, margin en­tire. Raceme 1(or 2)-flowered; rachis 3-6 cm. Calyx campanu­late, subequally toothed, 2-3 × as long as tube. Corolla white, blue, or pink, 12-15(-24) mm. Ovary linear; style twisted. Leg­ume subelliptic, 2.5-3.5(-4) cm, 2-winged along sutures. Seeds smooth. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Aug.
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An annual herb. It is a scrambling plant. It grows 100 cm high and spreads 100 cm wide. The stems are winged. The leaves have stalks. The leaves have 3 leaflets. The leaflets have short stalks. The leaflets are 2-5.5 cm long. The tendrils branch. The flowers are blue or reddish-purple. The fruit is a flat pod.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support climber
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread anemochory
Mature width (meter) 0.55 - 0.75
Mature height (meter) 0.6
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 1.5
Root diameter (meter) 0.9
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It grows in warm temperate places. In Nepal it grows to about 1100 m altitude. In Africa it grows to 3,500 m above sea level. It grows in moist places. It is drought resistant. It grows in the highlands in Eritrea. It can grow in arid places. It suits hardiness zones 8-10.
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Found as a weed of cultivated land though this is as a relict of cultivation, the plant is not known in a truly wild state.
Found as a weed of cultivated land though this is as a relict of cultivation, the plant is not known in a truly wild state.
Light 7-9
Soil humidity 4-6
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 3-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 7-10

Usage

CAUTION: Poisonous unless treated. It can cause the legs to become paralysed. This disease called lathyrism occurs when the diet is 30-50% chickling vetch. The risk can be reduced by boiling and baking. The seeds are eaten. They are used in soups. In small quantities they do not cause problems. The leaves are eaten as a pot-herb. The flour from the dried seeds is occasionally mixed with wheat or rye flour. The very young pods are cooked and eaten.
Uses animal food breeding environmental use fodder food forage gene source green manure medicinal poison vertebrate poison
Edible fruits leaves pods seeds shoots
Therapeutic use Gastrointestinal diseases (leaf), Pain (leaf), Amnesia (seed), Antioxidants (seed), Cathartics (seed), Central nervous system depressants (seed), Diet, food, and nutrition (seed), Eczema (seed), Gout (seed), Hemagglutination (seed), Nausea (seed), Neurotic disorders (seed), Periodontal diseases (seed), Rickets (seed), Ache(Leg) (unspecified), Dysentery (unspecified), Poison (unspecified), Cacoethes (unspecified), Medicine (unspecified), Stomach (unspecified), Paralysis (unspecified)
Human toxicity weak toxic (seed)
Animal toxicity toxic (seed)

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 15 - 25
Germination temperacture (C°) 17 - 20
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment soaking
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) 10 - 28
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Lathyrus sativus leaf picture by Gilles Le Luyer (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Lathyrus sativus flower picture by sharma vidya (cc-by-sa)
Lathyrus sativus flower picture by martin fontaine (cc-by-sa)
Lathyrus sativus flower picture by Mehmet Basbag (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Lathyrus sativus world distribution map, present in Afghanistan, Angola, Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Switzerland, China, Cyprus, Algeria, Egypt, Spain, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Haiti, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Sri Lanka, Lithuania, Morocco, Moldova (Republic of), Malta, Mongolia, Mauritius, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Tanzania, United Republic of, Ukraine, United States of America, Uzbekistan, and South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:501990-1
WFO ID wfo-0000212703
COL ID 3SL24
BDTFX ID 38010
INPN ID 105256
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Lathyrus sativus f. albus Lathyrus sativas Lathyrus asiaticus Pisum lathyrus Orobus bimarginatus Cicercula caerulea Cicercula sativa Cicercula alata Cicercula alba Lathyrus azureus Lathyrus abyssinicus Lathyrus sativus subsp. asiaticus Lathyrus sativus f. chlorospermus Cicercula sativa var. alba Lathyrus sativus var. violascens Lathyrus sativus var. parviflorus Lathyrus sativus var. pulchrus Lathyrus sativus var. pisiformis Lathyrus sativus var. platyspermus Lathyrus sativus var. orbiculatus Lathyrus sativus var. variegatus Lathyrus sativus var. comitans Lathyrus sativus var. depressus Cicercula sativa var. angustata Cicercula sativa var. blepharocarpa Cicercula sativa var. coerulea Cicercula sativa var. colorata Cicercula sativa var. obtusata Lathyrus cicera subsp. sativus Lathyrus sativus var. angustatus Lathyrus sativus var. coloratus Lathyrus sativus var. stenophyllus Lathyrus sativus
WorldFloraDB 2024