Herbs perennial, from rhizome, glabrous or puberulent. Stems angled, erect, basally branched 0–2 times, 2–5 dm. Leaves 2–4 cm; tendrils simple or branched, sometimes prehensile; stipules linear, 5–15 × 1–2 mm, much smaller than leaf­lets; leaflets 6 or 8, scattered, blades ovate to lanceolate, 15–45 × 4–10 mm, surfaces glabrous throughout or puberulent abaxially. Inflorescences 2–4-flowered, 7–12 cm. Flowers 18–20 mm; calyx lobes unequal, lateral lobes deltate, shorter than tube; corolla blue-purple, banner erect, blade longer than claw, wings equal to keel (held above keel); ovary glabrous. Legumes 40–50 × 8–10 mm, short-stipitate. 2n = 14.

Phenology: Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat: Dry soils in washes, pinyon-juniper woodlands, oak-brush, ponderosa pine forests, open prairies, grasslands.
Elevation: 1200–2500 m.

Distribution

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Ariz., Colo., N.Mex., Tex., Utah, Wyo., Mexico (Coahuila).

Discussion

Lathyrus eucosmus is known from the northern two-thirds of Arizona northward to southeastern Utah, and eastward in southeastern Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas to the edge of the Great Plains.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.