Lathyrus inconspicuus L.

Spice Flower

Family: LEGUMINOSAE

Genus: Lathyrus

Province distribution: Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Tarragona.

Distribution in the islands: Menorca.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Mediterranean

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Terophyte.

Habitat: Herbaceous communities, shady places.

Characteristics: A plant (up to 50 cm.) with angular stems very numerous and tangled between them. Flowers are solitary and pedunculate and of an intense rose colour. Leaves are bifoliate with aterminal mucro and basal stipules, at times the superior ones have tendrils. The fruits are linear and smooth with to small keels on the ventral and dorsal sides. Can be mistaken for L. sphaericus but the later has a peduncle with an inflorescence that prolongs into an awn.