species 26,727 observations

Seaside Pea

Lathyrus japonicus

Field notes

Lathyrus japonicus, the sea pea, beach pea, circumpolar pea or sea vetchling, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, native to temperate coastal areas of the Northern Hemisphere.

It is a herbaceous perennial growing trailing stems 50–80 cm (20–31 in) long, typically on sand and gravel storm beaches. The leaves are waxy glaucous green, 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) long, pinnate, with 2-5 pairs of leaflets, the terminal leaflet usually replaced by a twining tendril. The flowers are broad, with a dark purple standard petal and paler purple wing and keel petals; they are produced in racemes of up to twelve flowers.

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56 native animals
supported in the US

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Range

United States

Greener is more native, amber more introduced; paler is less certain. How this was decided

Key traits

Layer
Vines
Moisture
Moist Wet
Water use
Medium

From USDA PLANTS and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.