Lathyrus tuberosus L.

vernacular tuberous sweetpea — species · Fabaceae

USDA: LATU
GBIF: 5356522
Rank: species

tuberous sweetpea (Lathyrus tuberosus) — Platephotograph · AnneTanneCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Forb/herb, Vine
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus: Lathyrus

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 4 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: High
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -28 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 100 min.
Precipitation: 36–55 in/yr
pH range: 4.8–7.6
Root depth: 10 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 1.5 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Purple
Fruit colour: Black
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: Medium
Toxicity: Slight

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Mid Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 15,000
Propagation: seed, tubers

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 4 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/LATU ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5356522 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z