Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate woodland

Range

North America

Movement

Climbing

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Toxins

Status

Uncommon

About

Pacific pea is a native climbing vine that scrambles through coastal chaparral and scrub from central California to Baja, producing clusters of pale pink to lavender pea-shaped flowers. Its seeds were gathered as food by indigenous Chumash people, and like all legumes it enriches the soil by fixing nitrogen through root-dwelling bacteria.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Fabales

Family

Fabaceae

Genus

Lathyrus

Species

Lathyrus vestitus