Family |
Fabaceae
Lathyrus hirsutus
L.
Lathyrus hirsutus L.
(Sp. Pl.: 732; 1753 – Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CLXXVI nº 3; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Annual climbing or trailing herb, 20–60 cm long, with slender, angular stems covered in short, spreading hairs. Tendrils simple or bifid, weak but functional for support.
• Leaves: Alternate, pinnate with one pair of leaflets; leaflets narrowly lanceolate to linear, 15–35 × 3–8 mm, glabrous above, sparsely hairy beneath; margins entire; stipules large, sagittate, half as long as the leaflets, with a basal tooth or lobe.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Peduncles long, exceeding the subtending leaves, bearing 1–2 flowers. Flowers 10–15 mm long, bluish-purple or reddish-violet, fading with age. Calyx teeth subequal, triangular-lanceolate; standard broadly ovate, wings shorter; keel obtuse, whitish inside.
• Fruit: Pod linear, slightly compressed, 30–45 × 6–8 mm, densely covered with stiff spreading hairs; seeds 6–8, globose, smooth, dark brown to black.
• Phenology: Flowers and fruits from March to June.
• Habitat & elevation: Dry grassy slopes, open fields, and field margins, 200–1 600 m; prefers well-drained calcareous or clayey soils, often in sunny, disturbed habitats.
• Lebanese distribution: Reported by Mouterde from Mount Lebanon and Beqaa Valley, notably Barouk, Zahlé, Ain Dara, and Dahr el-Baïdar; locally common in dry open meadows and cereal field edges.
• Native to: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Austria, Baleares, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kirgizstan, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Morocco, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, West Himalaya (POWO).
• Introduced into: Alabama, Argentina Northeast, Arkansas, Baltic States, California, Florida, Georgia, Great Britain, Illinois, Indiana, Ireland, Kentucky, Kenya, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Uruguay, Virginia, Zimbabwe (POWO).
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Lathyrus hirsutus is a widespread Mediterranean–Irano-Turanian annual, recognised by its hairy stems and pods, narrow paired leaflets, and purple-violet flowers borne singly or in pairs. Mouterde (1969) described the Lebanese specimens as variable in size and indumentum, with some forms nearly glabrous. The species is commonly associated with Vicia sativa, Medicago polymorpha, and Trifolium campestre in montane grasslands and fallow fields.