Lathyrus pratensis,SE: Gulvial, ängsvial, DE: Wiesen-Platterbse,
NL: Veldlathyrus, UK: Meadow Vetchling

Scientific name:  Lathyrus pratensis L.
Swedish name:  Gulvial, ängsvial
German name:  Wiesen-Platterbse
Nederlandse naam:  Veldlathyrus
English name:   Meadow Vetchling
Family:   Fabaceae, Ärtväxter

Hammarstrand, Ragunda, Jamtland, Sweden Flowers, Bloemen in Zweden - Vilda blommor i Sverige
Date Picture Taken: July 22, 2009
Life form:  Perennial legume
Stems:  Slender, needs supporting, simple, 2-leaved tendrils. Angular, slightly downy, and branched
Leaves:   narrow, parallel-veined leaflets
Flowers:  Yellow
Flowering Period:  June-July
Fruits:  Pod, which contains many seeds, contracts when dry, and the seeds are thus expelled to a distance by a catapult arrangement.
Habitat:  Woods, thickets, pastureland, meadows, farmland and settlements

Lathyrus pratensis, Gulvial, Wiesen-Platterbse, Veldlathyrus, Meadow Vetchling
Date Picture Taken: July 18, 2009


Derivation of the botanical name:
Lathyrus from the Greek Láthyros, Lathuros, a kind of pea.
pratensis, "in meadows", growing or found in meadows.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
Lathyrus pratensis attracts all bees, Eucera, Bombus, Diphysis, and Megachile.
In the UK the Lathyrus pratensis is the primary foodplant for Leptidea juvernica (Cryptic Wood White), and Leptidea sinapis (Wood White).

Lathyrus pratensis, Gulvial, Wiesen-Platterbse, Veldlathyrus, Meadow Vetchling
Date Picture Taken: July 18, 2009