SimplePlant

Fabaceae

Silky beach pea

Lathyrus littoralis (Nutt.) Endl. ex Walp.

Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Lathyrus

Pet and kid safety: not checked yet. Check pet-safe plants

Silky beach pea: Lathyris littoralis — purple Beach Pea. One of our botanists was out at King Range's Mattole Beach (Northern California) conducting threatened and endangered sp
Photo: blmcalifornia, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons

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Common names

By language (1)
English
Silky beach pea

Synonyms

  • Astrophia littoralis Torr. & A.Gray
  • Astrophia littoralis Nutt.
  • Orobus littoralis (Nutt.) A.Gray

Flowers

Flower colour
purple (USDA PLANTS Database)

Characteristics

Growth habit
Forb/herb, Vine
Lifespan
Perennial
In the US and Canada
Canada: native, Lower 48 states: native

Toxicity: Slight, as listed by the USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29). USDA rates how toxic a plant is to people or livestock; it is not a pet-safety rating, so ask a vet or poison line if a pet or child ate it.

Photos

More in Lathyrus

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.