Straggling, hairless stems and deep yellow peaflowers, distinguish this perennial from other members of the Lathyrus genus. Extremely common in damp meadows, ditches and hedgerows throughout Ireland, this plant has yellow flowers (10-15mm long) which are borne in racemes of between 4 and 12 from May to August. The angular stems bear a single pair, occasionally two pairs, of grey-green lanceolate leaves and at the centre of these pairs is a branched tendril and large stipules. The twining tendrils help the plant to hold on to whatever is supporting it. The fruit pod (20-25mm long) is hairless, containing 4-8 seeds and blackens on ripening. This is a principal larval foodplant of the Wood White Butterfly (Leptidea reali) and is a native plant which belongs to the family Fabaceae.
I first identified this plant at Rath, Co Kerry in 1977 and I photographed it at Cullenstown, Co Wexford in 2007.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
