Relatives
Lathyrus rotundifolius Willd. - Round-leaved Pea.
Taxonomic position.
Family Fabaceae Lindl. genus Lathyrus L.Morphology and biology.
Perennial plant 40-80 cm tall with few or single stems, clutching by means of leaf tendrils. Stems more or less erect or ascending, angular, winged, glabrous. Stipules semisagittate, 1-2.5 cm long, 3-6 mm wide. Leaf petiole narrow-winged or wingless. Leaf rachis ends in a branched tendril. Leaves consist of 1 pair of orbicular-elliptic leaflets 2.5-5 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, with 3 distinct longitudinal veins. Peduncles slightly longer than leaves. Inflorescence a rather lax raceme of 3-6 flowers. Flowers about 1.5-2 cm long, corolla bright pink. Calyx campanulate, with unequal teeth (upper ones slightly shorter than lower). Standard rounded, abruptly narrowed into short unguis; wings as long as standard, with long curved tooth at base; keel shorter than wings, rounded, with broad tooth at base. Pods glabrous, sessile, linear, with oblong ribs at back, slightly compressed laterally, 4-6.5 cm long, 0.4-0.8 mm wide, 8-10-seeded. Valves with diagonal reticular venation. Seeds globose, dark, smooth. Flowers in May - June, fruits in July - August. 2n=14.Distribution.
General distribution: Caucasus (Transcaucasia); Asia Minor (mountains at the southwestern coast of the Black Sea); Iran (Elburs Range). Former USSR: Crimea (mountain part).Ecology.
In montane broad-leaved forests and their fringes, among shrubberies.Use and economic value.
Forage. Melliferous. Ornamental.References:
Fedorov AA., Tzvelev NN., eds. 1987. Flora of the European part of the USSR. V.6. Leningrad: Nauka. P.153. (In Russian).Shishkin BK., Bobrov EG., ed. 1948. Flora URSS. V.13. P.493-494. (In Russian).
Cherepanov SK. 1995. Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR). St.Petersburg. 990 p. (In Russian).