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sweet pea

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

sweet pea annual climbing plant ( Lathyrus odoratus ) of the family Leguminosae ( pulse family), a legume native to S Europe but, since its introduction to horticulture c.1700, widely cultivated for its fragrant flowers. There are three main types: dwarf, summer flowering (garden sweet peas), and winter flowering (florists' sweet peas). As cut flowers, sweet peas are one of the more important of florists' plants and are available in a wide range of shades. The vines climb by tendrils and require support. The sweet pea is also a honey plant and the source of an essential oil used in perfumery, although today this oil is more often made synthetically. The green pea and chickpea are related but of separate genera. The term pea is sometimes used generally for a seed in the pod of any leguminous plant. Sweet peas are classified in the division Magnoliophyta , class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Leguminosae.

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sweet pea

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

sweet pea Climbing annual plant native to Italy. Widely cultivated as an ornamental, it has fragrant, butterfly-shaped flowers of white, pink, purple, red or orange. Height: to 1.8m (6ft). Family Fabaceae/Leguminosae; species Lathyrus odoratus.

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sweet pea

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

sweet pea • n. a climbing plant (genus Lathyrus) of the pea family, widely cultivated for its colorful fragrant flowers.

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Homes and Gardens: Sweet peas in our time; Colin Hambidge looks at the rise... Newspaper article from: The Birmingham Post (England); 9/24/2005
	Growing is easy, peasy; AS Sweet Pea Week approaches, Lady Ursula Cholmeley,... Newspaper article from: Liverpool Echo (Liverpool, England); 7/2/2011
	gardening: Love is ... a sweet pea.(Features) Newspaper article from: Coventry Evening Telegraph (England); 10/27/2001