''Lathyrus vestitus'' is a species of wild pea known by the common name Pacific pea. It is native to western North America, where it is mostly found in the forests, woodlands, and

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The ranges of some subspecies extend into

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. This is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

pea vine which varies in appearance across subspecies. Leaves are made up of several leaflets of various shapes up to 4 or 5 centimeters long. The leaves usually bear coiling

tendrils In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as ''Cuscuta''. There are many plants that have tendr ...

and the stipules may be large or small. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a showy array of up to 15 pea flowers, sometimes densely packed together, and usually some shade of bright violet, light to medium purple, or white.

Subspecies

''Lathyrus vestitus'' is often discussed as comprising several varieties. These are: *''Lathyrus vestitus'' var. alefeldii *''Lathyrus vestitus'' var. ochropetalus *''Lathyrus vestitus'' var. vestitus

External links

Calflora Database: ''Lathyrus vestitus'' (Bolander's pea, Canyon Sweet Pea, Common pacific pea, Pacific peavine)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Lathyrus vestitus''USDA Plants Profile
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UC CalPhotos gallery: ''Lathyrus vestitus''
vestitus Flora of Baja California Flora of California Flora of Oregon Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{fabeae-stub