Description

This beautiful little vine is so common it is easy to miss along trailsides in the SF Bay Area, much of coastal California and beyond. It winds its way in and around other foliage with compound leaves of oval leaflets, establishing a backdrop for other plants. In spring the snapdragon-like flowers appear, ranging from white to violet. Although the pacific pea is a prolific grower, it tends not to grow up or over other plants, but to grow loosely as a groundcover. Pacific pea thrives in sun to partial shade and accepts a variety of soils. It is a good candidate to a naturalized garden (i.e. no supplemental irrigation) but accepts occasional water.