Family |
Fabaceae
Lathyrus aphaca
L.
Lathyrus aphaca L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 729 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 419, Pl. CLXXI, 8; 1970)
Description
Life-form & habit: Hairless, somewhat glaucous annual with angular, prostrate or ascending stems, 10–50 cm long.
Leaves: The leaf is reduced to a slender stalk ending in a tendril. At its base, two broad, leaflike stipules are obovate, with a truncate base bearing two auricles.
Inflorescence & flowers: Flower stalks exceed the tendrils and usually bear a single yellow flower. The pointed, linear-lanceolate calyx teeth are about twice the length of the tube.
Fruit: Curved, linear pod with net-veined valves; seeds are ovoid and slightly flattened, brown or marbled.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering February–May.
Habitat & elevation: Gardens and waste ground.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Ras Bayada, Beirut, Tripoli, Qrayye, Abey, Aley, below Beit Mery, Chemlan, Jabal Terbol, Ghazir, Tlail, Mdeirej, Qabb Elias, Zahle, Baalbeck, the Yantha road, Tannourine and Kfertay.
Syrian distribution: Below Slenfe, Wadi el Qarn, Homs, Hama, Jabal Semaan, Tell Aqibrin, Damascus, Akkari–Tell Kalakh, Massaade, Soueida, Hamme, Damascus–Ain Beida and Palmyra; Mouterde also records Haffe–Slenfe and Zinzof under Lathyrus polyanthus.
Native range: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Assam, Baleares, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., East Himalaya, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Nepal, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Sinai, South European Russia, Spain, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, West Himalaya.
Introduced into: Alabama, Amsterdam-St.Paul Is., Arkansas, Austria, Azores, Baltic States, Belgium, California, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Eritrea, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Kentucky, Kenya, Louisiana, Maryland, Mauritius, Nebraska, Netherlands, Northwest European Russia, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Poland, Switzerland, Tennessee, Washington.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Mouterde includes Lathyrus polyanthus Boiss. & C.I.Blanche in this account; Kew also treats that name as a synonym of Lathyrus aphaca.