Spring pea

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Spring pea
Lathyrus vernus - kevadine seahernes.jpg

Spring pea ( Lathyrus vernus )

Systematics
Eurosiden I
Order : Fabales (Fabales)
Family : Legumes (Fabaceae)
Subfamily : Butterflies (Faboideae)
Genre : Flat peas ( Lathyrus )
Type : Spring pea
Scientific name
Lathyrus vernus
( L. ) Bernh.

The spring flat pea ( Lathyrus vernus ) is a species of the genus flat peas ( Lathyrus ) in the subfamily of the butterflies (Faboideae). It is common in Eurasia .

description

illustration
Habit, leaves and flowers of different ages of different colors, Franconian Forest in Bavaria
Spring peas ( Lathyrus vernus ) near Białowieża (Poland)
pollination

Vegetative characteristics

The spring flat pea is a perennial, herbaceous plant and reaches heights of 20 to 40, rarely up to 60 centimeters. It forms a short, branched rhizome and the roots reach a depth of 1 meter. The upright to ascending stems are not branched, furrowed, rather glabrous and have stunted stipules at their base .

The pinnate leaves have two to three (rarely one to four) pairs of plumage and no tendrils . The leaves do not turn black when dried. The petiole is not winged. The rachis ends in a garnet-like point. The leaflets are ovate, three to seven (rarely up to ten) cm long, 1 to 3 cm wide and pointed long. The pinnate nerves are arched and networked. The leaves are often hairy on the edge and on the upper side, shiny on the underside. The stomata are located on the underside of the leaf, on the upper side there are elliptical water gaps for the excretion of liquid water. The stipules are 10 to 25 mm long and 2 to 8 mm wide, semi-spear-shaped with small auricles.

Generative characteristics

Three to eight, rarely up to ten flowers are grouped together in racemose inflorescences that are shorter or longer than their bracts . The upper inflorescences tower above the terminal shoot. The flowers are nodding to protruding and have a 1 to 3 mm long peduncle. Cover sheets are missing or stunted.

The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and five-fold with a double flower envelope . The calyx is sagging at the top, rather bare and tinged with brown to purple. The calyx teeth are of unequal length: the upper ones are triangular, sloping together and significantly shorter than the lower ones. The lower ones are lanceolate and a quarter to half as long as the calyx tube. The crown has the typical shape of the butterfly flower , is 13 to 20 mm long, red-violet in color and turns blue to blue-green when it wilts. The flag is significantly longer than the wing and shuttle. The stylus is not widened towards the top, hairy and not twisted. Flowering time is April to May.

The legumes stand upright, are 4 to 6 cm long and 5 to 8 mm wide. They have a linear, flat shape, the rest of the stylus is curved downwards. The fruit is network-nerved, mostly bare, brown in color and contains 8 to 14 seeds . These are 3 to 4 mm long, spherical to lens-shaped, have a smooth surface and are yellow-brown in color or marbled a little darker. The navel is narrow and takes up a quarter to a third of the circumference of the seed.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 14.

Flower and diaspore ecology

The flowers are nectar-bearing butterfly flowers with a brush mechanism. The wings and the shuttle are firmly connected to each other, the flowers can only be pollinated by relatively strong insects. These include some particularly Hummel TYPES ( Bombus pascuorum (agrorum), Bombus confusus , Bombus hortorum , Bombus lapidarius , Bombus mastrucatus ), but also some wild bee species ( Osmia rufa , Anthophora acervorum , Leptidia sinapis , Eucera longicornis , Andrena TYPES) and the western honey bee ( Apis mellifera ). Bombus terrestris is a nectar robber and bites open the side of the flowers.

The fruits are spin fruits : By drying up the sleeve rips them up and scattered the seeds so as diasporas act.

Distribution and locations

The spring pea is a Eurasian floral element . The area stretches from eastern France with interruptions to the Pacific coast of Siberia . In Belgium and the Netherlands it is a neophyte , in north-east Germany it occurs only scattered, in the north-west it is absent as far as Kiel, otherwise it is widespread. She is missing in Saarland.

The spring pea grows mainly in deciduous forests, less often in mixed coniferous forests. It occurs particularly on fresh, nutrient-rich , rather chalky, loose clay and loam soils . It is a gauze and lime pointer. It rises up to the montane, rarely also subalpine, altitude .

The spring flat pea is a typical species of Central European hardwood forests. She is a trim characteristic species of beech forests (Fagetalia sylvaticae).

Subspecies

In Switzerland, two subspecies are distinguished:

  • Lathyrus vernus subsp. vernus
  • Lathyrus vernus subsp. gracilis (Gaudin) Arcang.

supporting documents

  • Siegmund Seybold (Ed.): Schmeil-Fitschen interactive . CD-ROM, version 1.1. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2002, ISBN 3-494-01327-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  616-617 .
  2. ↑ Distribution map based on Hultén, accessed July 31, 2008.

Web links

Commons : Spring pea ( Lathyrus vernus )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files