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Lathyrus japonicus
Also called Sea pea, Beach Vetchling, Maritime Pea, Sand Pea, Sea Vetchling, Seaside Pea, Beach Peavine
A low-growing, trailing perennial pea that forms mats on sandy and gravel coastal beaches across the Northern Hemisphere. It grows best in full sun in loose, free-draining sand.
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.
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.
Lathyrus japonicus is native to temperate parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. It an introduced species in central Chile, in South America. Its typical habitat is sandy or stony seashores and other coastal locations. 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 waves abrade the hard outer seed coat on sand or gravel.
Angled pea · Yellow pea · Golden Pea · Red pea · Lathyrus fulvus · Everlasting-Pea · Caley pea · Perennial pea · Sweet pea · Round-leaved vetchling · White pea · Grass pea
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lathyrus japonicus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
