Index / Search / Lathyrus japonicus
§1 Plant
Lathyrus japonicus Willd.
vernacular beach pea — species · Fabaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb, Vine
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Fabaceae Lindl.
- Genus
- Lathyrus
§2a
Native status, by region
- AK Alaska Native
- CAN Canada Native
- GL Greenland Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
- SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native
§2b
County-level range
· 134 counties across 15 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- Medium
- Shade
- Medium
- Moisture use
- Medium
- Fire
- High
- Salinity
- Medium
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- High
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -33 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 190 min.
- Precipitation
- 30–60 in/yr
- pH range
- 6–7.5
- Root depth
- 16 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Lifespan
- Short
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft
- Foliage texture
- Medium
- Foliage colour
- Dark Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Moderate
- Porosity (winter)
- Porous
- Flower colour
- Purple
- Fruit colour
- Black
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- Medium
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Early Spring
- Seed abundance
- Low
- Seed begins
- Spring
- Seed ends
- Summer
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 12,000
- Propagation
- seed, sprigs
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Contracting Only
- Nursery stock
- No
- Browse palatability
- Low
- Graze palatability
- Low
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Medium
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 134 counties across 15 states/territories.
Alaska view state ↗ 19 N ▾
- Aleutians East 02013
- Aleutians West 02016
- Anchorage 02020
- Bethel 02050
- Chugach 02063
- Copper River 02066
- Dillingham 02070
- Haines 02100
- Juneau 02110
- Kenai Peninsula 02122
- Ketchikan Gateway 02130
- Kodiak Island 02150
- Lake and Peninsula 02164
- Matanuska-Susitna 02170
- Nome 02180
- North Slope 02185
- Northwest Arctic 02188
- Sitka 02220
- Yakutat 02282
Illinois view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 34 N ▾
- Alcona 26001
- Alger 26003
- Allegan 26005
- Antrim 26009
- Arenac 26011
- Baraga 26013
- Benzie 26019
- Berrien 26021
- Charlevoix 26029
- Cheboygan 26031
- Chippewa 26033
- Crawford 26039
- Delta 26041
- Emmet 26047
- Grand Traverse 26055
- Houghton 26061
- Iosco 26069
- Keweenaw 26083
- Leelanau 26089
- Luce 26095
- Mackinac 26097
- Manistee 26101
- Marquette 26103
- Mason 26105
- Menominee 26109
- Muskegon 26121
- Oceana 26127
- Ontonagon 26131
- Ottawa 26139
- Presque Isle 26141
- Schoolcraft 26153
- St. Clair 26147
- St. Joseph 26149
- Van Buren 26159
Minnesota view state ↗ 7 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 2 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 5 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 3 N ▾
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/LAJA ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/5356714 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T08:39:52Z