Can someone tell me what sort of pea this is?

Mar 19, 2007 1 Replies

This plant has come up in a compost heap. This heap receives the leftover props from a college Economic Botany course, so it might be anything. The foliage looks very much like regular Pisum sativum (English pea) foliage, except that so far, there are no tendrils--and the plant is over a foot tall. The leaflets are thin but a little rubbery and glaucous. The flowers are about an inch long, white with maroon blotches on the wing petals. No fruit yet.



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, M. Reed



Many thanks to the lovely folks who wrote me off-list, pointing out that my mystery plant is Vicia faba, fava bean! It certainly bears no resemblance at all to any species of Vicia I have ever seen in the wild. I think the folks who place it in a separate genus might have something....

M> This plant has come up in a compost heap. This heap receives the

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