Lathyrus tingitanus L.
Tangier pea
Scrambling annual; stems glabrous, angled, broadly winged. Lvs glabrous; tendril branched in upper lvs, sometimes reduced and simple in lower lvs; leaflets in 1 pair, narrowly to broadly elliptic, acute to obtuse, 20-70 mm long; veins parallel; stipules lanceolate to ovate, usually with 1 basal lobe and about as wide as stem, (10)-15-30 mm long. Infl. about = or somewhat > lvs, 1-3-flowered; pedicels 4-8 mm long. Calyx glabrous, somewhat gibbous at base; calyx teeth unequal, narrowly to broadly triangular, < tube. Corolla usually purple, sometimes crimson, pink or white, 20-35 mm long. Pod glabrous, brown, 5-8-seeded, 70-110 mm long; seeds reddish brown or mottled brown, smooth; hilum ⅙-⅕ of circumference.
N.: locally common to abundant throughout but not recorded from Taranaki or Hawke's Bay; S.: locally common to abundant in the N. and E. as far S. as Dunedin.
Mediterranean 1940
Waste places, coastal cliffs, sands and gravels.
FL Aug-May.
Tangier pea forms extensive patches in some areas and may be found growing with L. latifolius. These 2 common spp. are easily distinguished when flowering and may also be told apart when fruiting as the seeds of Tangier pea are smooth and have a short hilum (Fig. 62). Plants of Tangier pea germinating and flowering late in the season may be much more slender, and have narrow stem wings, smaller lvs with indistinct parallel veins, and short peduncles. Some early records of L. grandiflorus may refer to L. tingitanus. Kirk, T., Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 10: 372 (1878), recorded L. grandiflorus and sheets from his herbarium in WELT labelled " Lathyrus, Lower Hutt" are referable to L. tingitanus.
