COMMON WILD PEA.
Lathyrus vestitus, Nutt. Pea Family.
Stems.—One to ten feet high; slender; not winged. Leaves.— Alternate; with small semi-sagittate stipules; pinnate, with four to six pairs of leaflets; tendril-bearing at the summit. Leaflets.—Ovate-oblong to linear; six to twelve lines long; acute. Flowers.—White, pale rose or violet; seven to ten lines long. Lower Calyx-teeth.—About equaling the tube. Corolla.—Papilionaceous; the standard veined with purple in the center. Stamens.—Nine united; one free. Ovary.—Flattened; pubescent. Style hairy down the inner side. (See Leguminosæ.) Hab.—Sonoma County to San Diego.
The genus Lathyrus, which contains the beautiful sweet pea of the garden, affords us several handsome wild species, but most of them are difficult of determination, and many of them are as yet much confused. This genus is quite closely related to Vicia, but, in general, the leaflets are broader, the flowers are larger, and the style is hairy down the inner side as well as at the tip.
Lathyrus vestitus is the common wild pea of the south. It is quite plentiful, and clambers over and under shrubs, hanging out its occasional clusters of rather large pale flowers.
L. Torreyi, Gray, found from Santa Clara County to Napa in dry woods, is a slender plant, having from one to three small white or pinkish flowers. It is remarkable for and easily distinguished by its very fragrant foliage.