Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Fabales - Family: Fabaceae
Another member of the Pea Family (Fabaceae) of which there are so many flowering in the Mediterranean. This is a very variable plant and the flowers appear in different colour combinations, which can make identification difficult. It grows on roadsides and verges and other grassy places and blooms from April to August. Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea is cultivated in the Mediterranean, and so in some instances may have escaped and become naturalised.
This plant also grows in the UK and Ireland. Having originally been introduced as a garden plant it has now escaped into the wild and seems to be particularly fond of roadside verges and roundabouts where it scrambles over almost any plant it can find there.
The specimens shown on this page were photographed in the Algarve, Portugal, in May.
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