Everlasting pea

It was not until I read  accounts by John Kallas, and later Sam Thayer, that I discovered that these plants  were not only not toxic but delicious. It turned out we had been calling them “sweet pea”, the name of another legume of their genus, Lathyrus odorata, a fragrant-flowering annual. But this one was a very long lived perennial, with a robust root system and large, scentless flower clusters.

This is Lathyrus latifolius, the everlasting pea, a robust and long-lived perennial whose major edible part is the leaves and shoots, which are delicious. The flowers can also be added to salads. Yes, the pea pods are edible, but they have to be young. Like field peas, the shell peas and dry peas are more practical a food source. I would cook them first.

Sam Thayer also lists a number of other legumes in the genus Lathyrus (the wild peas) as being good edible plants, which makes sense.

One thing to note is that they are not suitable as a dietary staple. I said they were non toxic, and that is true to an extent, but if you eat mostly Lathyrus peas, it can cause paralysis of the lower body (lathyrism). This is a disease best known for its occurrence in a Nazi concentration camp, where the prisoners were fed almost exclusively Lathyrus sativa or grasspea. It also occurs in countries beset by famine, where there is little else to eat due to crop failures. However, these are exceptional conditions and they are not problematic for the health when consumed as part of a well-balanced diet. Considering the yield for everlasting pea, and the amounts that would have to be habitually ingested, this is unlikely to be an issue.

Everlasting pea is most plentiful in coastal areas and likes similar habitats to asparagus. I saw them growing together in coastal Massachusetts and have heard that they can form extensive stands on the West Coast.