Lathyrus tuberosus
Tracheophyta
›Magnoliopsida›Fabaceae›Lathyrus›Lathyrus tuberosus
Ecology
A scrambling perennial herb of hedgerows, rough grassland and waste places; also occasionally found in arable field margins where its tubers allow it to persist. Lowland.
Status
Neophyte
Trends
L. tuberosus was being cultivated in gardens by 1596, but it is a common cornfield weed in Europe and may have been introduced before this date as a seed contaminant. It was first recorded in the wild in 1708. It is also introduced with chicken food and is probably dispersed by birds.
World Distribution
A Eurosiberian Temperate species, absent as a native from much of W. Europe.
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Broad Habitats
Boundary and linear features (eg hedges, roadsides, walls)
Light (Ellenberg): 6
Moisture (Ellenberg): 5
Reaction (Ellenberg): 7
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 6
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 0
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 3.8
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 16
Annual Precipitation (mm): 776
Height (cm): 120
Perennation - primary
Perennial
Life Form - primary
Non-bulbous geophyte (rhizome, corm or tuber)
Woodiness
Herbaceous
Clonality - primary
Rhizome far-creeping
Comment on Clonality
Clonal in Clopla1; signified as a geophyte by Aeschiman & Burdet (1994)
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 186
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 1
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 0
Atlas Change Index: -0.99
JNCC Designations
NBNSYS0000003302
Comment on Life Form