Sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) is a flowering plant in the genus Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae (legumes), native to the eastern Mediterranean.
It is an annual climbing plant, growing to a height of 1–2 meters (nearly six feet and six inches), where suitable support is available. The leaves are pinnate with two leaflets and a terminal tendril, which twines around supporting plants and structures helping the sweet pea to climb. The flowers are purple, 2-3.5 centimeters broad, in the wild plant, larger and very variable in colour in the many cultivars.
The annual species, L. odoratus, may be confused with the everlasting pea, L. latifolius, a perennial.
Read more about Sweet Pea: Horticultural Development, Cultivation, Pests and Diseases, Toxicity, Genetics, See Also, Notes
Famous quotes containing the words sweet and/or pea:
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Soft maids and village hinds shall bring
Each opening sweet of earliest bloom,
And rifle all the breathing spring.”
—William Collins (1721–1759)
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—Russell Baker (b. 1925)