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Lathyrus sativus

Common name:	Chickling Pea	Family:	Leguminosae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The seed contains a toxic amino-acid which, in large quantities, can cause a very serious disease of the nervous system known as 'lathyrism'. The seed is said to be perfectly safe and very nutritious in small quantities, but should not comprise more than 30% of the diet[65, 76].
Range:	The original habitat is obscure, possibly S. Europe.
Habitat:	Found as a weed of cultivated land though this is as a relict of cultivation, the plant is not known in a truly wild state[93].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Burcak [E], Cicercula [E], Gall [E], Grass Peavine [L], Hurtuman [E], White Peavine [P], White Vetchling [B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	sativus = cultivated
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Fabales. Renamed to Fabaceae -- Pea family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Europe India(Santal) Iraq Kurdistan Turkey Venezuela

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.6m. . It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. It can fix Nitrogen. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves Seed Seedpod.

The immature seed can be eaten like green peas[2, 27, 183].
The mature seed is eaten cooked[2, 27, 46, 183]. It needs to be soaked and well cooked before being eaten[61]. The seed can also be ground into a powder and mixed with wheat in a ratio of one part vetch to 3 parts of wheat flour to make a protein-enhanced bread[2, 183]. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.
Young seedpods - cooked[105, 142, 183].
Young shoots - cooked[142, 183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Cathartic.

The oil from the seeds is a powerful and dangerous cathartic[240].

Other Uses

Green manure Soil stabilization.

The plant has an extensive root system and fixes atmospheric nitrogen through bacteria that live on the roots. It makes a good soil-enriching green manure crop or can be planted for erosion control[200].

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, succeeding in any moderately good garden soil but preferring a position in full sun[200].
The chickling pea is cultivated for its edible seed in India and the Middle East[61], but see notes above on toxicity.
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[200]. When removing plant remains at the end of the growing season, it is best to only remove the aerial parts of the plant, leaving the roots in the ground to decay and release their nitrogen.

Propagation

Pre-soak the seed for 24 hours in warm water and then sow in early spring in a cold frame[200]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.
If you have sufficient seed, then it can also be sown in situ in mid spring[200].
Division in spring. It may not transplant well so care should be taken[200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Latin and Worldwide Common Names From Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database by M. H. Porcher et. al. 1995 - 2000 Landcare Systems Research Laboratory, Department of Crop Production,Institute of Land and Food Resources, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[27] Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press ISBN 0-89815-041-8
A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[65] Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984 ISBN 0723408394
Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.

[76] Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. HMSO 1984 ISBN 0112425291
Concentrates mainly on the effects of poisonous plants to livestock.

[93] Davis. P. H. Flora of Turkey. Edinburgh University Press 1965
Not for the casual reader, this is an immense work in many volumes. Some details of plant uses and habitats.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[142] Brouk. B. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press 1975 ISBN 0-12-136450-x
Readable but not very comprehensive.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

Lathyrus sativus

Fernand Lambein (fernand.lambein@rug.ac.be) Tue Feb 11 14:04:25 2003

The common name of Lathyrus sativus in Ethiopia is guaya. In India it has many names, the main one is Khesari.

Lathyrus sativus

Fernand Lambein (fernand.lambein@rug.ac.be) Tue Feb 11 13:19:12 2003

Lathyrus sativus L. is most commonly called 'grass pea'. It has specific common names in most European languages: Graes-Fladbaelg in Danish, Zaailathyrus in Dutch, Forskolm in Norwegian, Ervilha quadrada in Portuguese, Almorta, guija or muela in Spanish, Plattvial in Swedish, Peltonatkelma in Finnish, Pois-carré, gesse cultivée or gesse commun in French, Saat-Platterbse or Platterbse in German, Laturi in Greek and Cicerchia in Italian. I guess this indicates ancient agronomic uses of the plant. In Ethiopia it is a survival food for the poor subsistence farmers. After a drought triggered famine, epidemics of the crippling neurolathyrism occur, the latest epidemic was in 1997-98. Ref.: Nettox list of food plants, Danish veterinary and food Administration,1998. Getahun H. et al.: Epidemic of neurolathyrism in Ethiopia, Lancet 354, 1999, 306-307

Link: The Lathyrus lathyrism Newsletter

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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