Nearctica - Eastern Wildflowers - Fabaceae - Vetchling (Lathyrus palustris)

Vetchling

(Lathyrus palustris)

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of Merel R. Black, University of Wisconsin, Stephens Point

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

Vetchling (Lathyrus palustris L.)

Identification: Plant a climbing vine. Flowers red-purple, pealike, arranged in sparse groups at the ends of long flower stems. Seedpod beanlike, slightly curved. Stems with thin wings. Leaves consisting of 2 to 4 pairs of opposite leaflets and an apical tendril. Each leaflet elongate and slightly ovate. A butterfly shaped bract present at the leaf axil.

Distribution: Most of North America, but absent from the Rocky Mountain region and most of the southeastern United States.

Habitat: Vetchling is found in marshes, wet meadows, and along the shores of ponds and lakes.

Flowering period: June to September.

Similar Species: The winged stem will usually separate Vetchling from other vetchlike legumes except Everlasting Pea. Everlasting Pea has much larger flowers ands the leaves are in single pairs. In those cases where the stem lacks wings, the butterfly shaped bracts in the leaf axils are distinctive.