Species Brief
Lathyrus bijugatus, drypark pea
Written
July, 2026
Contributors
Ilana L. Abrahamson - 1st Compiler, Leila Duchac - 1st Editor
Abrahamson, Ilana L., compiler. 2026. Species Brief: Lathyrus bijugatus, drypark pea. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-briefs/latbij
DOI
10.2737/feis-species-brief-latbij
Scientific Name
Lathyrus bijugatus
Common Names
drypark pea
White Pinewoods sweetpea
peavine
pine woods peavine
Latah tule pea
pinewoods sweetpea
FEIS Lifeform Type
Forb
Kingdom
Plantae
Class
Magnoliopsida (Dicot)
Order
Fabales
Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Lathyrus
Nativity
Native
Invasiveness
Noninvasive
This Species Brief is a concise summary of the biological, ecological, and fire‑related characteristics of an individual species derived from a Fire Effects Information System (FEIS) Species Review. Table 1 is derived from a standardized template and highlights these characteristics.
| Attribute | Characteristic | Justification | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biological characteristics | |||
| Life form | Forb | Drypark pea is a perennial, leguminous forb. Its stems may vine, but vining is less pronounced than in legumes with more developed tendrils, so it is treated as a forb. | FEIS: Botanical Description [1] |
| Typical lifespan | Insufficient information | The source does not provide explicit information about typical lifespan. | FEIS [1] |
| Life cycle | Perennial | Drypark pea is a perennial, leguminous forb. It desiccates in fall and sprouts again in spring. | FEIS: Botanical Description; Seasonal Development [1] |
| Drought tolerance | High* | Drypark pea prefers dry soils and open sites. Soil moisture on sites where it occurs is reported as dry, but drought tolerance is not explicitly stated. | FEIS: Site Characteristics [1] |
| Rooting depth | Deep* | Rooting depth is not stated directly, but inferred from the root type. Lathyrus species have caudices, taproots, fibrous horizontal roots, and slender rhizomes growing from the taproot. | FEIS: Botanical Description [1] |
| Bark thickness at maturity | N/A | This attribute applies to trees. | FEIS [1] |
| Sheds low branches | N/A | This attribute applies to trees. | FEIS [1] |
| Reproduction and Regeneration | |||
| Adventitious buds | Rhizomes; Caudex* | Drypark pea sprouts from its rhizomes. It may also sprout from its caudex after top-kill, although this is not documented. | FEIS: Vegetative Regeneration; Botanical Description [1] |
| Time to reproductive maturity | Insufficient information | The source does not provide explicit information about time to reproductive maturity. | FEIS [1] |
| Soil seed bank longevity | Insufficient information | Lathyrus species have a soil-stored seed bank, but the long-term viability of drypark pea seed is not documented. | FEIS: Seed Banking [1] |
| Serotinous cones | N/A | This attribute applies to conifers. Drypark pea fruit is a two-valved pod bearing 6 to 12 seeds. | FEIS: Botanical Description [1] |
| Seed dispersal mechanism | Insufficient information | Information on seed dispersal, viability, and seedling establishment of drypark pea was not available in the literature. | FEIS: Regeneration Processes [1] |
| Seed dispersal distance | Insufficient information | Information on seed dispersal, viability, and seedling establishment of drypark pea was not available in the literature. | FEIS: Regeneration Processes [1] |
| Optimal conditions for seedling establishment | Insufficient information | Information on seed dispersal, viability, and seedling establishment of drypark pea was not available in the literature. | FEIS: Regeneration Processes [1] |
| Successional Status | |||
| Shade tolerance | Shade intolerant* | Drypark pea occurs on open sites and is rare in late-successional conifer forests, but shade tolerance is not stated directly. | FEIS: Successional Status [1] |
| Successional status | Early* | Drypark pea occurs on open sites, including clearings, and is rare in late-successional conifer forests, but its successional status is not stated directly. | FEIS: Successional Status [1] |
| Fire | |||
| Primary fire response(s) or adaptation(s) | Recover/Resprout | Fire probably top-kills drypark pea, and it likely sprouts from its rhizomes and/or caudex afterward. It likely survives because perennating buds are insulated by soil. One study suggests that fires of low or high intensities may not substantially affect its abundance. | FEIS: Immediate Fire Effects; Fire Adaptations and Plant Response to Fire [1] |
| Germination is fire stimulated | Insufficient information | Little is known of drypark pea's germination requirements, and no fire cue for germination is described. | FEIS: Germination [1] |
| Flowering/fruiting is fire stimulated | Insufficient information | The source does not provide explicit information about fire-stimulated flowering or fruiting. | FEIS [1] |
| Season when it is most sensitive to fire | Insufficient information | Information was not available about seasonal differences in drypark pea's fire sensitivity. In the only available fire study on the species, drypark pea abundance 1-3 years after a fall prescribed fire was similar to prefire abundance. | FEIS: Fire Adaptations and Plant Response to Fire |
| Plant flammability | Low* | Because it is rare even where it occurs, drypark pea does not substantially contribute to fine fuels. Flammability is not measured directly. | FEIS: Fuels [1] |
| Early colonizer/recolonizer of burned or disturbed sites | Insufficient information | The single study found cover and frequency similar on unburned plots and plots burned under low or high intensity, but no evidence describes colonization of newly burned or disturbed sites. | FEIS: Fire Adaptations and Plant Response to Fire [1] |
| Effect of fire exclusion on population | Possible decrease | Because drypark pea occurs in open plant communities, fire exclusion could reduce its abundance, especially in conifer woodlands and forests. | FEIS: Fire Management Considerations [1] |
| Is this species typically managed with prescribed fire? | Rarely/No* | Only one study documented drypark pea after fire, where it was incidental to prescribed burns applied to logged ponderosa pine. | FEIS: Fire Adaptations and Plant Response to Fire [1] |
| Predominant historical fire frequencies of ecosystem where it most commonly occurs | Frequent; Mid-frequency | Drypark pea grows in open conifer forests, Palouse prairies, mountain grasslands, and on the edges of big sagebrush communities. The open ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, and western larch forests historically experienced mostly frequent, low-severity fires. Historical fire intervals in big sagebrush communities were likely over 25 years. | FEIS: Fire Regimes [1] |
| Predominant historical fire severity where it most commonly occurs | Low; Mixed*; Replacement* | The open conifer forests historically experienced mostly frequent, low-severity fires. Western larch and subalpine fir stand types experienced some mixed-severity and some stand-replacing fire, and big sagebrush communities experienced mostly high-severity fire. | FEIS: Fire Regimes [1] |
| Predominant historical fire regime group where it most commonly occurs | 1; 4* | The source does not assign fire regime groups directly, but open ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, and western larch forests had mostly frequent, low- to mixed-severity fires (group 1), and big sagebrush communities historically had mid-frequency, stand replacing fire (group 4). | FEIS: Fire Regimes [1] |
| Alters historical fuel characteristics of ecosystems where it occurs | Rarely/No | Because it is rare even in the plant communities where it occurs, drypark pea does not substantially contribute to fine fuels. | FEIS: Fuels [1] |
1. Fryer, Janet L. 2021. Lathyrus bijugatus, drypark pea. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/latbij
Last updated August 20, 2026