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The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is a flowering plant in the genus Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae (), native plant to Sicily, southern Italy and the Aegean Islands. Euro+Med Plantbase
It is an annual plant climbing plant, growing to a height of , where suitable support is available. The leaf are pinnation with two leaflets and a terminal tendril, which twines around supporting plants and structures, helping the sweet pea to climb. In the wild plant the are purple, broad; they are larger and highly variable in color in the many . Flowers are usually strongly scented.
The annual species, L. odoratus, may be confused with the everlasting pea, L. latifolius, a perennial.
Cupani's scrambling sweet peas had small, short-stalked, bicolored flowers arranged in pairs and were sweetly scented, but went largely unnoticed by gardeners. Cupani is believed to have sent seed to a number of botanists, including the English botanists Robert Uvedale in Enfield, and Jacob Bobart in Oxford, and the Dutch botanist Jan Commelin who published a description and illustration of sweet peas growing in Amsterdam.
Despite the general lack of early interest amongst gardeners, some nurserymen including the British horticulturist Robert Furber began to offer sweet peas for sale as early 1730. Still, by the mid 19th century only 5 cultivars or variants were available; Cupani's wild type sweet pea and types with white, black (or very dark purple), red, or mixed pink and white flowers.
Over the course of the 19th century however, horticulturists, nurserymen and gardeners alike began to breed new variants, leading to the formation of dwarf, cretin, hoods and picotee cultivars. The Scottish plant nursery Henry Eckford (1823–1905) cross-bred and developed the sweet pea, turning it from a rather insignificant if sweetly scented flower into a floral sensation of the 19th century.
His initial success and recognition came while serving as head gardener for the Earl of Radnor, raising new cultivars of and . In 1870 he went to work for one Dr. Sankey of Sandywell near Gloucester. A member of the Royal Horticultural Society, he was awarded a First Class Certificate (the top award) in 1882 for introducing the sweet pea cultivar 'Bronze Prince', marking the start of association with the flower. In 1888 he set up his development and trial fields for sweet peas in Wem in Shropshire. By 1901, he had introduced a total of 115 of the 264 cultivars grown at the time. Eckford was presented with the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour for his work. He died in 1906, but his work was continued for a time by his son John Eckford.
More recently, the association between the sweet pea, the Eckfords and Wem has been highlighted again. In the late 1980s, the Sweet Pea Society of Wem started an annual show. Many of the street signs now carry a sweet-pea motif, and an area of the town is known as Eckford Park. There is also a cultivar 'Dorothy Eckford', named after a family member.
Over 50 cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
In the UK the National Collection of Sweet Peas was started by Roger Parsons in 1991, when he offered to host a collection of Lathyrus at Hotham Park, Bognor Regis. At the time Parsons was working as Head of Parks and Landscape for Arun District Council. The collection achieved National Collection status in 1993 and now holds about 1300 species and cultivars from around the world. English Sweet Peas, operated by Phil Johnson, now incorporates Roger Parsons Sweet Peas and Johnson will maintain and add to the National Collection. Johnson has submitted an application to Plant Heritage to become the new custodian.
A pest called the pollen beetle, which is small, shiny and black, eats the pollen and disfigures the flowers. Other pests include caterpillars, thrips, and . Another problem is powdery mildew; this is a white powdery coating that covers the leaves and slows down growth, and can be caused when sweet peas are planted too close to each other, sucking nutrients from the plants and stunting their growth.
The sweet pea is also susceptible to ethylene in quantities produced by senescing plants. Because of this, growers are encouraged to plant sweet peas away from fruit trees among other plants prone to early dieback or senescence.
In studies of rats, animals fed a diet of 50% sweet pea seeds developed enlarged adrenals relative to control animals fed on edible peas.Dasler, W. (1954). Observations of odoratism (sweet pea lathyrism) in the rat. Journal of Nutrition 53: 105-13. The main effect is thought to be on the formation of collagen. Symptoms are similar to those of scurvy and copper deficiency, which share the common feature of inhibiting proper formation of collagen fibrils. Seeds of the sweet pea contain beta-aminopropionitrile that prevents the cross-linking of collagen by inhibiting lysyl oxidase and thus the formation of allysine, leading to loose skin. Recent experiments have attempted to develop this chemical as a treatment to avoid disfiguring skin contractions after skin grafting. Sweet peas make a second skin - Guardian, UK, July 2008
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Developing a yellow sweet pea The hybrid cultivars belong to the hybrid species Lathyrus × hammettii.
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