Family: Fabaceae
cream pea-vine, pale vetchling, white pea
Merel R. Black
Derek Anderson
University of Wisconsin - Madison (WIS-VP)
Etymology: Lathyrus: from the Greek lathyros, an old name for "pea"
Plants: erect, perennial, 1'-3' tall, smooth forb
Leaves: pinnately-divided into 3-5 pairs of leaflets with a tendril at the end; asymmetrical, rounded, leaf-like appendages at the base
Flowers: cream to yellow, 5-parted, 3/4" long; inflorescence a stalked cluster (raceme) of 5-10 stalked flowers on a stalk shorter than the leaves; blooms May-July
Fruits: long, flat pod
Habitat: dry; woods, forests, cliffs
Hazardous: Careful, this plant is hazardous!
Conservation Status: Native
Plants: erect, perennial, 1'-3' tall, smooth forb
Leaves: pinnately-divided into 3-5 pairs of leaflets with a tendril at the end; asymmetrical, rounded, leaf-like appendages at the base
Flowers: cream to yellow, 5-parted, 3/4" long; inflorescence a stalked cluster (raceme) of 5-10 stalked flowers on a stalk shorter than the leaves; blooms May-July
Fruits: long, flat pod
Habitat: dry; woods, forests, cliffs
Hazardous: Careful, this plant is hazardous!
Conservation Status: Native
Mesic to dry forests of oak, oak-pine, oak-basswood, oak-hickory, oak-aspen, maple-white cedar, maple-basswood, maple-beech, aspen-birch, white cedar-balsam fir, mixed conifers, maple-pine-oak; also in pine barrens, pine relics on sandstone outcrops, wooded bluffs, oak savannas, fields, thickets, along roadsides and railroads. Our only species that typically inhabits forests and often along edges, trails, or in clearings. Some plants will have very narrow stipules, but these can be told apart from our other species by the cream flowers and wide leaflets.
Floristic Rating: Coefficient of Conservatism = 7 USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos
Derek Anderson
Robert W. Freckmann
Merel R. Black
Merel R. Black
Richard Bauer
Botanical Illustration
Aaron_Carlson
Aaron_Carlson
