Wild Sweet Pea.
Wild Sweet Pea. Lathyrus latifolius, Bean family (Fabaceae); or Butterfly family ( Papilionaceae ), Wild Sweet Pea: AKA: Everlasting Pea, Sweet Pea, Perennial Pea, Everlasting Pea, Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea, Brede Lathrys broadleaf pea, & Pea Vine.

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While the Annual sweet peas are delightfully fragrant and come in a variety of colors, the Perennial Sweet Pea, Lathyrus latifolius, which has naturalized along the roadsides of North America, does not smell at all.

The Wild Sweet Pea is a native of Southern Europe and Northern Africa, it has been around for a long since in about the early 1700's.

Thomas Jefferson planted it in his personal garden in 1807. It was very popular in England during the Victorian times when many cultivated varieties were grown.

Some of the cultivated varieties in England were even named after royalty and other celebrities of the time.

Today, the plant is known to be tough, and it seems to grow enthusiastically, naturalizing in open fields and in abandoned gardens where it quickly gets out of control. The plant propagates easily from seed and is known by a variety of common names such as perennial sweet pea, Brede Lathrys broadleaf pea, everlasting sweet pea, pea vine, and wild sweet pea.

It's blossoms are usually a purplish pink, but occasionally they are deep purple or pure white. It is both toxic and invasive.

Wild Sweet Pea is an herbaceous perennial with stems and petioles that appear to be folded longitudinally. The stems and petioles are actually flanked on two sides by broad wings, 5-10 mm wide. At the base of the petiole are two leafy stipules with basal lobes, 3-5mm long.

The glabrous leaves are composed of two leaflets that point upward, each with 3-5 veins originating at the base. The leaflets are lanceolate, elliptic, or oblong, 4-9 cm long and 1-3cm wide. The roots are a taproot plus rhizomes.

Quick Notes:

Height: To 6 to 8 feet tall. Equal or greater spread. Usually about 5 feet by 10 feet. The vine will encompass about 10 square feet.

Flowers: 4 to 14 Purplish-pink or white flowers on axillary racemes. The peduncles are generally long, from 10-20cm. The pedicels are also relatively long, 8-15mm, and bear the glabrous green, bell-shaped calyx. The lobes of the calyx are unequal, varying from 5-6mm, and have acuminate or acute tips. The corolla is papilionaceous (papilio is Latin for butterfly) - a bilaterally symmetrical structure composed of a broadly erect banner petal, and a lower keel enclosed by two wing petals. The lower keel is composed of two petals that are fused together, enclosing 10 stamens. The stamens are fused into two groups (diadelphous) � 9 stamens in one group and one stamen free. The pistil consists of a single style and stigma, and a superior ovary. The style is compressed and pubescent, and the ovary is 1-locular.

Flowering Time: In Arizona from late March through Mid - October.

Fruit: The fruit of L. latifolius is a 10-25 seeded flat, dehiscent legume: a pea-pod that opens on both sides. The legume is glabrous, 6-10cm long and 7-10mm wide (1, 7, 10). The fruit opens as the dried carpel walls twist. The Seeds are dark in color, 3-5mm in diameter, spherical to tuberculate to oblong, smooth or dimpled. The seeds of L. latifolius are poisonous. The fruits dehisce violently, scattering the seed contents.

Leaves: The glabrous leaves are composed of two leaflets that point upward, each with 3-5 veins originating at the base. The leaflets are lanceolate, elliptic, or oblong, 4-9 cm long and 1-3cm wide.

Found: Native to Europe and North Africa, L. latifolius escaped from cultivation in the United States, and has been naturalized in every state except Alaska, Florida, and North Dakota. These plants can be invasive.

Hardiness:
USDA Zone 5a: to -28.8 �C (-20 �F)
USDA Zone 5b: to -26.1 �C (-15 �F)
USDA Zone 6a: to -23.3 �C (-10 �F)
USDA Zone 6b: to -20.5 �C (-5 �F)
USDA Zone 7a: to -17.7 �C (0 �F)
USDA Zone 7b: to -14.9 �C (5 �F)
USDA Zone 8a: to -12.2 �C (10 �F)
USDA Zone 8b: to -9.4 �C (15 �F)
USDA Zone 9a: to -6.6 �C (20 �F)
USDA Zone 9b: to -3.8 �C (25 �F)

Soil pH requirements:
6.1 to 6.5 (mildly acidic)
6.6 to 7.5 (neutral)
7.6 to 7.8 (mildly alkaline)
7.9 to 8.5 (alkaline)

Sun Exposure:
Full Sun
Some Shade

Elevation: 4.462 to 6,562 feet In Arizona.

Habitat: Grows best in damp clay soils.

Miscellaneous: Native to Europe and North Africa, L. latifolius escaped from cultivation in the United States, and has been naturalized in every state except Alaska, Florida, and North Dakota. Even though it takes some water, it can be used as a xerioscape landscape plant in Arizona. The seeds of L. latifolius are poisonous.