Lathyrus japonicus

Last updated

Lathyrus japonicus
Beach pea.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Lathyrus
Species:
L. japonicus
Binomial name
Lathyrus japonicus
Synonyms [1]
  • Lathyrus aleuticus(Greene) Pobed.
  • Lathyrus californicusDouglas
  • Lathyrus hulteniiJ.Rousseau & Raymond
  • Lathyrus maritimus(L.) Fr.
  • Lathyrus maritimusBigelow
  • Lathyrus pisiformisHook.
  • Lathyrus venosusSweet
  • Orobus californicus(Douglas) Alef.
  • Orobus maritimus(L.) Rchb.
  • Pisum maritimumL.
  • Pisum pubescensHartm.

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, and Argentina.

Contents

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.

Description

Lathyrus japonicus is a perennial plant. The stem grows to 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 in) and is limp, has no wings and is often hairless. The leaves are alternate, greyish green and somewhat succulent, almost stalkless with large, wide stipules. The leaf blades are pinnate with three to five pairs of narrow lanceolate leaflets with blunt tips, entire margins and a terminal tendril. The inflorescence has a long stem and five to twelve purple flowers, each 14 to 20 mm (0.6 to 0.8 in) long, turning bluer as they age. These have five sepals and five petals and are irregular with a standard, two wings and a fused keel. There are ten stamens and a single carpel. The fruit is a long brown pod up to 50 mm (2.0 in) in length. This plant flowers in mid-to-late summer (July and August in the Northern Hemisphere, January and February in the Southern Hemisphere). [2]

Distribution and habitat

Lathyrus japonicus is native to temperate parts of Europe, Asia, North and South America. [3] Its typical habitat is sandy or stony seashores and other coastal locations. [2] The unusually extensive native range is explained by the ability of the seeds to remain viable while floating in sea water for up to five years, enabling the seeds to drift nearly worldwide. Germination occurs when the hard outer seed coat is abraded by waves on sand and gravel.

The pods can be eaten [4] but like many members of the genus Lathyrus they contain β-oxalyl-L-α,β-diaminopropionic acid, which can cause paralysis called lathyrism. The leaves of the plant are used in Chinese traditional medicine.

Related Research Articles

<i>Lathyrus latifolius</i> Species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae

Lathyrus latifolius, the perennial peavine, perennial pea, broad-leaved everlasting-pea, or just everlasting pea, is a robust, sprawling herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae. It is native to Europe but is present on other continents, such as North America and Australia, where it is most often seen along roadsides.

<i>Vicia cracca</i> Species of legume

Vicia cracca, is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia. It occurs on other continents as an introduced species, including North America, where it is a common weed. It often occurs in disturbed habitats, including old fields and roadside ditches.

<i>Lathyrus pratensis</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus pratensis or meadow vetchling, yellow pea, meadow pea and meadow pea-vine, is a perennial legume that grows to 1.2 m in height.

<i>Lathyrus tuberosus</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus tuberosus is a small, climbing perennial plant, native in moist temperate parts of Europe and Western Asia. The plant is a trailer or weak climber, supported by tendrils, growing to 1.2 m tall. The leaves are pinnate, with two leaflets and a branched twining tendril at the apex of the petiole. Its flowers are hermaphroditic, pollinated by bees. The plants can also spread vegetatively from the root system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet pea</span> Species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae

The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is a flowering plant in the genus Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae (legumes), native to Sicily, southern Italy and the Aegean Islands.

<i>Lathyrus niger</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus niger, also known as black pea, blackening flat pea and black bitter vetch, is a perennial legume that is native to Europe. Its common name is reference to the blackening of the plant's foliage as it dies.

<i>Lathyrus nevadensis</i> Species of plant

Lathyrus nevadensis, the Sierra pea or purple peavine, is a perennial herb with erect to climbing stems, native to the forests and clearings of western North America from British Columbia to northern California and as far east as Idaho.

<i>Vicia sepium</i> Species of legume

Vicia sepium or bush vetch is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. A nitrogen-fixing, perennial, leguminous climbing plant that grows in hedgerows, grasslands, the edges of woodland, roadsides and rough ground. It occurs in western Europe, Russia including Siberia, Crimea, Caucasus and Central Asia. It can also be found in eastern Canada, north-eastern states of the USA and, where suitable habitat occurs, in Greenland. It is native to, and has been recorded in, almost all parts of Britain, Ireland and associated islands.

<i>Lathyrus sylvestris</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus sylvestris, the flat pea or narrow-leaved everlasting-pea, is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is native to parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia.

<i>Lathyrus vernus</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus vernus, the spring vetchling, spring pea, or spring vetch, is a species of flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the genus Lathyrus, native to forests of Europe and Siberia. It forms a dense clump of pointed leaves with purple flowers in spring, shading to a greenish-blue with age.

<i>Lathyrus littoralis</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus littoralis is a species of wild pea known by the common name silky beach pea. It is native to the coastline of western North America from British Columbia to California. It is a resident of beaches and dunes.

<i>Lathyrus palustris</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus palustris is a species of wild pea known by the common name marsh pea. It is native to Europe, Asia, and North America. It is a perennial herb with leaves made up of oval-shaped or oblong leaflets a few centimeters long. It has branched, coiled tendrils. The plant bears an inflorescence of two to eight pinkish purple pea flowers each up to two centimeters wide. The fruit is a dehiscent legume pod.

<i>Lathyrus polyphyllus</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus polyphyllus is a species of wild pea known by the common name leafy pea. It is native to the western United States from Washington to northern California, where it grows in forest and other habitat. This is a perennial herb with long leaves each made up of many pairs of oval-shaped leaflets a few centimeters long. The leaf also has tendrils which may be long, branched and coiled, or just a short bristle. The stipules are large as well, often over a centimeter wide. The plant produces an inflorescence of up to 12 pea flowers usually arranged in a line along one side of the stem. The flowers are up to 2 centimeters wide and are a variety of shades of purple. The fruit is a dehiscent legume pod containing peas.

<i>Lathyrus sulphureus</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus sulphureus is a species of wild pea known by the common names snub pea and sulphur pea.

<i>Tephrosia virginiana</i> Species of legume

Tephrosia virginiana, also known as goat-rue, goat's rue, catgut, rabbit pea, Virginia tephrosia, hoary pea, and devil's shoestring is a perennial dicot in family Fabaceae. The plant is native to central and eastern North America.

<i>Senna marilandica</i> Species of legume

Senna marilandica, commonly known as Maryland senna, Maryland wild senna, and wild senna, is a perennial flowering plant in the pea family (Fabaceae) native to the United States. It blooms in the summer with yellow flowers, followed by long seed pods, and can grow up to 2 m (6 ft) tall. It prefers average to wet soil.

<i>Lathyrus sphaericus</i> Species of legume

Lathyrus sphaericus is a species of wild pea known by the common names grass pea and round-seeded vetchling. It is native to Eurasia and much of Africa, and it is known on other continents as an introduced species. It can grow in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas. This is an annual herb producing a slender stem and bearing leaves each made up of two long, narrow, grasslike leaflets up to 6 centimeters long and a coiling, climbing tendril. The inflorescence is made up of one pea flower on a stalk one or two centimeters long ending a in a bristle. The flower is roughly a centimeter long and deep orange-red or dull red in color. The fruit is a hairless legume pod marked with longitudinal stripes.

<i>Lathyrus linifolius</i> Species of plant

Lathyrus linifolius is a species of pea, commonly called bitter vetch or heath pea. The name bitter vetch is also sometimes used for Vicia ervilia and also for Vicia orobus. The tubers of Lathyrus linifolius were formerly used as an appetite suppressant in medieval Scotland, and this use has brought the plant to recent medical attention. Attempts are being made to cultivate the plant on a commercial scale.

<i>Astragalus mollissimus</i> Species of legume

Astragalus mollissimus is a perennial plant in the legume family (Fabaceae) found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.

<i>Astragalus desperatus</i> Species of legume

Astragalus desperatus is a perennial plant in the legume family (Fabaceae) found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.

References

  1. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species" . Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Sea pea: Lathyrus maritimus". NatureGate. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
  3. Den virtuella floran: Lathyrus japonicus distribution
  4. Fagan, Damian (2019). Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert. Guilford, CT: FalconGuides. p. 165. ISBN   978-1-4930-3633-2. OCLC   1073035766.