Everlasting Pea
Lathyrus latifolius
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in roadsides, fencerows, disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Arkansas. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- 6–10 feet
- Spread
- 3–6 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- May to October
Recorded in 18 Arkansas counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
21CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR
Genus host records with ranges including AR · Lathyrus
- Apantesis phylliraPhyllira Tiger Moth
- Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
- Chloridea virescensTobacco Budworm Moth
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
- Colias philodiceClouded Sulphur, Clover Butterfly
- Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
- Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
- Epargyreus clarusSilver-Spotted Skipper
- Gesta juvenalisJuvenal's Duskywing
Show all 21
- Glaucopsyche lygdamusSilvery Blue
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Heliothis phloxiphagaSpotted Straw Sun Moth, Darker Spotted Straw Moth
- Leptotes marinaMarine Blue
- Melanchra pictaPainted Arches, Zebra Caterpillar Moth
- Pyrrhia exprimensPurple-Lined Sallow, Purple-Lined Sun Moth
- Spodoptera albulaWhite-Spotted Armyworm, Gray-Streaked Armyworm
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
- Urbanus proteusLong-Tailed Skipper, Bean Leaf Roller
- Caryocolum pullatella
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Lathyrus
- Megachile melanophaea
2BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Lathyrus
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–8b
- Flower color
- Blue, yellow, pink, purple or white
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Blue, yellow, pink, purple or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “6–10 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “3–6 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Arkansas rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| AR status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas (2013)
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Arkansas occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications