Observations of the Month: Sweet Peas (Fabaceae)
San Diego Sweet Pea (Lathyrus vestitus var. alefeldii) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/116227628 by Biocowboy
Canyon Sweet Pea (Lathyrus vestitus var. vestitus)
https://sdplantatlas.org/PhotosSanDiego/S05271.jpg by jrebman
Did you know that we have two varieties of Lathyrus vestitus in San Diego County? Both are perennial vines with showy flowers.
San Diego Sweet Pea (Lathyrus vestitus var. alefeldii) is much more common in our county and the flowers are usually bright pink. The banner of the flower is reflexed greater than 90 degrees. Canyon Sweet Pea (Lathyrus vestitus var. vestitus) is much less common in San Diego County and the flowers are paler, usually pale lavender or whitish with lavender streaks. The banner of the flower is reflexed about 90 degrees.
San Diego Sweet Pea by Jorge Ayon
Canyon Sweet Pea by Jon Rebman
Observations of these two taxa may help answer questions about their distribution in our area and clarify whether there are other characteristics that can be used to distinguish them. Since the color of flowers is often lost when a plant is dried and the position of flower parts such as banners may not be accurately preserved during the preparation of voucher specimens, photographs of living plants that show the color of flowers and the position of the banner are important. So, when you find one of these eye-catching vines, take multiple photos including a side view of the flower to show whether the banner is standing upright or bent backwards.
See Photographing Plants for iNaturalist for helpful guidelines about what to photograph for iNaturalist observations. You can view voucher specimens, maps of collection locations, and find additional information about these plants at the San Diego County Plant Atlas website .
Comentários
Nice photos and advice on photographing them. The differences in the Banners is quite distinctive. Any comments on where vestitus var vestitus maybe encountered ? There's also a beautiful Sweet Pea known as Lathyrus splendens - Campo Pea - I see Jepson states: "Banner reflexed". I had this on my property in Potrero which burnt unfortunately, recently, in the Coyote fire. Im hoping it recovers.
Thank you, Jim! I hope your Lathyrus splendens and everything else recovers from the fire. There aren't a lot of voucher specimens or verifiable observations of var vestitus, so the extent of its distribution in San Diego County is not entirely clear. It is definitely found near the coast in the north end of the county.
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