3854.000 Lathyrus L.

Description of the genus

Annual or perennial herbs, erect or straggling, climbing by means of tendrils. Stems angular or ± winged. Leaves paripinnate, rarely imparipinnate; rhachis terminating in a tendril or a bristle, rarely reduced to a tendril; petiole and rhachis sometimes dilated and leaf-like; leaflets usually few, entire; stipules foliaceous, often semi-sagittate, persistent. Flowers solitary or in axillary racemes; bracts usually minute, early caducous; bracteoles absent. Calyx 5-lobed, sometimes asymmetrical with the upper 2 lobes shorter; corolla small to medium-sized, red, blue or yellow; standard oblong-obovate to transversely elliptic with a short broad claw; wings oblong to falcate-obovate, adherent to the keel or free; keel shorter than the wings, incurved, obtuse. Ovary subsessile or stipitate, few–­many-flowered. Fruit pods linear-oblong, terete or ± laterally compressed, dehiscent. Seeds globose or ellipsoid, sometimes compressed, smooth or rugulose, with a slender aril.

Worldwide: 130 species in northern temperate regions and South America, a few species in Africa.

Malawi: 1 taxon.

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SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
hygrophilus Taub.N,C

Other sources of information about Lathyrus:

Our websites:

Flora of Mozambique: cultivated Lathyrus
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Lathyrus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Lathyrus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Lathyrus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Lathyrus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Lathyrus
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Lathyrus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Lathyrus
JSTOR Plant Science: Lathyrus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Lathyrus
Plants of the World Online: Lathyrus
Tropicos: Lathyrus
Wikipedia: Lathyrus

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Malawi: Genus page: Lathyrus.
https://www.malawiflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=2301, retrieved 29 March 2024

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