Coastal Peas

Living on the coast of Washington for awhile (the peninsula was quite a metaphor for the people who lived on it, as well as the lives they lived, and not in a positive sense) provided me an opportunity to experience a different environment and different wildflowers. My biggest and most joyous wildflower adventures were in the Cascade Mts. and the Coastal Ranges, but there were a handful of treats lurking in sand and marsh. Many such treats were members of the Pea (Fabaceaa) Family.

The showiest of the clan was probably Silky Beach Pea (Lathyrus littoralis), with Beach Pea (L. japonicus) giving it a run for its money. (You might think Lathyrus, which is from the Greek thouros, and means 'something exciting', refers to the colorful, showy flowers, but it doesn't. It refers to the belief that the seeds had medicinal value, the medicinal part, I suspect, something in a more Timothy Leary-flying ointment venue.)

Silky Beach Pea is a silky-haired (duh), gray plant with great pink and white pea flowers, the pink part being the banner, the white part being the wings. Its silky leaves consist of two to ten lanceolate leaflets, the hairs giving the plant its gray hue.

According to some sources, it is/was also known as Chinook licorice, which refers to the use of Silky Beach Pea by the Chinook who roasted and ate the roots. However, Seashore Lupine (Lupinus littoralis) is/was also known as Chinook licorice, and since this plant is also hairy, I'm wondering if there hasn't been some confusion over which one actually was/is also known as Chinook licorice. Or maybe they both are...

Anyway ... it grows from Washington down to central California.

Beach Pea is less showy only because its flowers, which are just as large as those of Silky Beach Pea - nearly an inch across - are "only" rosy purple in color ... still lovely, but lack that extra oomph white wings give Silky Beach Pea.

It spreads by rhizomes, which hold the plant securely in place, and that's no mean feat in sand.

The Dena'ina ate the seeds of Beach Pea raw, or boiled and preserved in seal oil.

It grows from Alaska down to northern California.

Seashore Lupine, which I mentioned above, was my most exciting pea find. I never thought I'd continue to find new lupines, but they keep turning up.

This small species with its hairy foliage, brought to mind Bajada Lupine (L. concinnus), but that one's a desert species in the southwest. Seashore Lupine grows in the dunes and sandy beaches along the immediate coast of the Pacific Northwest. The flowers have a pale blue to white banner and bright blue wings.

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