WorldFloraDB - Lathyrus tuberosus

Characteristics

Herbs perennial; rhizomes bearing small tubers. Stem 30-120 cm tall, erect, glabrous, wingless. Leaves with simple or branched tendril at apex; stipules semisagittate, 5-20 × 1-4 mm; leaflets 1-paired, elliptic, oblong, or obovate, glabrous, with parallel veins. Raceme 2-7-flowered. Calyx campanulate, 6-7 mm; longest tooth shorter than tube. Corolla purple-red, 1.5-2 cm; standard subovate, with claw; wings obovate, auriculate at base. Ovary linear; style twisted. Legume brown, linear, 2-4 cm, glabrous. Seeds brown, elliptic, tuberculate. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.

More

Rhizomatous perennial with small tubers; stems 2-angled, wingless, to 8 dm; stipules lanceolate, 5–12 mm, with a single short basal lobe; lfls 2, oblanceolate to elliptic, 1.5–3 cm; peduncles 5–8 cm, bearing a crowded raceme of 2–10 red-purple fls 12–16 mm, the standard broader than long; 2n=14. Native of Europe and w. Asia, intr. at a few scattered stations chiefly toward the n. part of our range.

A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It is a climbing plant. The rhizomes bear small tubers. The stems are 30-120 cm tall. The leaves are compound with 1 pair of leaflets. The flowers are in groups or 2-7 flowers. They are purple-red.

Life form

perennial

Growth form

herb

Growth support

climber

Foliage retention

deciduous

Sexuality

hermaphrodite

Pollination

entomogamy

Spread

epizoochory

Mature width (meter)

-

Mature height (meter)

0.5 - 1.0

Root system

rhizome

Rooting depth (meter)

0.3

Root diameter (meter)

-

Flower color

Blooming months

Jan	Feb	Mar
Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep
Oct	Nov	Dec

Fruit color

-

Fruiting months

Jan	Feb	Mar
Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep
Oct	Nov	Dec

Nitrogen fixer

Photosynthetic pathway

c3

Environment

It is a temperate plant. In western China it grows near riverbanks between 500-2,400 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zone 6.

More

Cornfields and hedgerows, avoiding acid soils. Water meadows, riverbanks; at elevations from 500-2,400 metres in western China

Light
Soil humidity
Soil texture
Soil acidity
Soil nutriment
Hardiness (USDA)

Usage

The root or bulb is cooked and eaten. They can be boiled or roasted. They are also eaten fresh. It is also dried and made into flour. The tubers have been used to flavour whisky. The seeds are occasionally eaten.

Uses	experimental purposes fodder food forage gene source human nutrition medicinal ornamental perfumery
Edible	leaves roots seeds tubers
Therapeutic use	Dysentery (unspecified)
Human toxicity	weak toxic (seed)
Animal toxicity	toxic (seed)

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings. Seeds needs soaking.

Mode	seedlings
Germination duration (days)	20 - 30
Germination temperacture (C°)	12 - 18
Germination luminosity	-
Germination treatment	soaking
Minimum temperature (C°)	-20
Optimum temperature (C°)	-
Size	-
Vigor	-
Productivity	-