Lathyrus grandiflorus Two-flowered Everlasting-pea (Peavine)

An attractive climbing perennial which is native to the central Mediterranean. It occurs as a garden escape in the British flora and is rarely found far from gardens, but it is able to naturalise itself and persist. It flowers in early summer and, despite its name, flowers may occur singly, in twos or threes in the inflorescence. The leaves are made up of one pair of more or less oval leaflets and the stems are angled but not winged. This combination of characters will separate it from other large pea-flowered climbers like Lathyrus japonicus, whose leaves have more than one pair of leaflets (up to 5) and Lathyrus latifolius and Lathyrus sylvestris which both have distinctly winged stems. It is uncommon as a naturalised species in West Glamorgan but there is a significant population along the Gnoll Interceptor in Neath Port Talbot.

Neophyte