Drypark Pea

More info for the terms: fire use, prescribed fire

The following Research Project Summary provides information on prescribed fire use and
postfire response of many plant species, including drypark pea:

Understory recovery after low- and high-intensity fires in northern Idaho
ponderosa pine forests

drydark pea
pinewoods sweetpea

Drypark pea is a regional endemic [8].

Drypark pea is a native perennial legume. It has slender
rhizomes and grows 8 to 12 inches (10-13 cm) tall. The leaflets are 1
to 6 inches (2-15 cm) long; the tendrils are bristlelike. The
bluish-pink flowers are approximately 0.5 inch (10-13 mm) across. The
pod is 1 to 1.5 inches (3-4 cm) long and contains 7 to 12 seeds [5].
Drypark pea is a nitrogen fixer [2].

Drypark pea is found in eastern Washington and Idaho. It is a
regional endemic in Montana [5,8].

Occurrence in Glacier National Park: along Inside Road 1.5 miles south
of Logging Lake Ranger Station [7].

More info for the term: fire regime

Drypark pea's belowground rhizomes are likely protected from fire.

FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".

More info on this topic.

More info for the term: hemicryptophyte

Hemicryptophyte

Drypark pea grows in open ponderosa pine (Pinus
ponderosa)-western larch (Larix occidentalis) forests at low elevations
in foothills and open parks under trees [5,7].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

237 Interior ponderosa pine

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

FRES21 Ponderosa pine

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: forest

K005 Mixed conifer forest
K011 Western ponderosa forest

Fire likely top-kills drypark pea.

More info for the term: forb

Forb

Drypark pea should be protected from damage due to road
maintenance in Glacier National Park [7].

Drypark pea is a poisonous plant [2].

ID MT WA

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Drypark pea flowers from May through July [5].

More info for the term: top-kill

Drypark pea likely sprouts from rhizomes after top-kill by fire.

More info for the terms: herb, rhizome

Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil

Drypark pea reproduces by both sexual and vegetative means [2].

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

8 Northern Rocky Mountains

The currently accepted scientific name of drypark pea is Lathyrus
bijugatus White [5].

Perennial, Herbs, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, S tems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules inconspicuous, absent, or caducous, Stipules green, triangulate to lanceolate or foliaceous, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves even pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 2, Leaflets 4, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Flowers in axillary clusters or few-floweredracemes, 2-6 flowers, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals pinkish to rose, Petals blue, lavander to purple, or violet, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Banner petal suborbicular, broadly rounded, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing petals auriculate, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, St amens diadelphous, 9 united, 1 free, Filaments glabrous, Style flattened, Style hairy, Style hairy on one side only, Style persistent in fruit, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit exserted from calyx, Valves twisting or coiling after dehiscence, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Lathyrus bijugatus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names drypark pea, pinewoods sweetpea, and Latah tule-pea. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Oregon to Montana, and possibly as far south as California.

This plant is a perennial herb growing from a rhizome and reaching an erect height of 30 centimeters. Each leaf is made up of two to four leaflets up to 15 centimeters long. The leaves have bristles at the tips instead of tendrils. The flowers are pink to light blue and roughly a centimeter long. The fruit is a flat legume pod up to 4 centimeters long containing up to 12 seeds. It reproduces sexually by seed and vegetatively. It grows in forests. The plant is poisonous.