Relatives
Lathyrus chloranthus Boiss. - Yellow-green grass pea.
Taxonomic position.
Family Fabaceae Lindl., genus Lathyrus L.Morphology and biology.
Annual plant 50-60 cm in height, covered by squarrose hairs. Stems are branchy, ascending, almost upright, two-ridged, two-winged. Stipules are medium-sized, semi-sagittate, 7-11 mm in length, shorter than stalks. Leaves consist of 1 pair of rather large leaflets, which take an oblong or elliptical form, 40-55 mm in length, 14-16 mm in width, with three appreciable sections. Stalks are flared, 2-3 cm in length. The leaf axis culminates in a branchy tendril. Inflorescences are usually as long as or longer than the leaves and have one or two flowers, which are 2-3 times longer than stipules. The calyx is campanulate; its shares are triangle-lanceolate, acuminate, and longer than the tube. Flowers are about 14-17 mm in length and are greenish yellow in color. The flag is pubescent outside, round-ovate, on short stem. Wings.s length is 2/3 that of the flag, with auricle at the base, on short stem. Keel.s bottom edge is triangular or round. Pods are linear, compressed, 40-55 mm in length, about 5-9 mm in width. Rigid white hairs, which sit on small tuberculums, densely cover young pods. The hairs fall off at maturity, though tuberculums remain, making the surface of matured pods rigid. Seeds are spherical, up to 5 mm in diameter, tuberculate, dark. Blossoms in May-June; fructifies in July-August.Distribution.
The distribution area includes Balkan-Asia Minor, the Armenian-Kurdish region, and Iran. Within the former USSR, the species occurs throughout the Caucasus and in Southern Transcaucasia.Ecology.
Occurs as a weed along edges of fields and in crops. Sometimes occurs in meadows.Use and economic value.
Fodder (green plants). Weed in crops. Decorative.Literature cited:
Cherepanov, S.K. 1995. Plantae Vasculares Rossicae et Civitatum Collimitanearum (in limicis USSR olim). St. Petersburg, Mir I Semia, 990 p. (in Russian).Grossheim, A.A. 1952. Flora of Caucasia. Vol. 5. Moscow-Leningrad: Publishing House of USSR Acad. Science, 404 p., appendix. (in Russian).
Shishkin B.K., Bobrov E.G., eds. 1948. Flora of the USSR. Vol. 13. M.-L.: Publishing House of Acad. Science, pp. 486-487. (in Russian).