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Lathyrus

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iSweet peas

Grass Vetchling, Lathyrus nissolia

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Tribe:	Vicieae
Genus:	Lathyrus

Species

See text.

The genus Lathyrus consists of the sweet peas and vetchlings, flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae. There are approximately 160 species of Lathyrus; they are native to temperate areas, with a breakdown of 52 species in Europe, 30 species in North America, 78 in Asia, 24 in tropical East Africa, and 24 in temperate South America.<ref>Asmussen, Conny B; Liston, Aaron (March 1998). "Chloroplast DNA Characters, Phylogeny, and Classification of Lathyrus (Fabaceae)". American Journal of Botany 85 (3): 387.</ref> There are annual and perennial species which may be climbing or bushy. This genus has numerous sections, including Orobus, which was once a separate genus.<ref>Fred, Edwin Broun; Baldwin, Ira Lawrence; McCoy, Elizabeth (1932). Root Nodule Bacteria and Leguminous Plants. UW-Madison Libraries Parallel Press, 142. ISBN 1-893311-28-7.</ref>

The genus includes the garden sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) and the perennial everlasting pea (Lathyrus latifolius). Flowers on these cultivated species may be rose, red, maroon, pink, white, yellow, purple or blue and some are bicolored; they are also fragrant, which makes them a very popular garden plant. Cultivated species are susceptible to fungal infections including downy and powdery mildew. Lathyrus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Grey Chi, Latticed Heath (both recorded on Meadow Vetchling) and Chionodes braunella.

Other species are grown for food, including L. sativus and L. cicera, and less commonly L. ochrus and L. clymenum. L. tuberosus is grown as a root vegetable for its starchy edible tuber.

The seeds of some Lathyrus species contain a toxic amino acid and if eaten in large quantities can cause lathyrism, a serious disease.