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Lathyrus odoratus

Lathyrus odoratus

8.3
A climbing garden plant with a sweet smell and pale colorful flowers called sweet pea
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Lathyrus odoratus
  • Many gardeners love to grow Lathyrus odoratus for its wonderful fragrance and pastel blooms.

Examples

  • The trellis in our backyard is covered with flowering Lathyrus odoratus.

  • Florists often use Lathyrus odoratus in bouquets due to its beautiful scent.

  • The garden is filled with beautiful Lathyrus odoratus.

  • Have you seen the Lathyrus odoratus blooming this spring?

  • Many gardeners love to grow Lathyrus odoratus for its wonderful fragrance and pastel blooms.

  • Florists often use Lathyrus odoratus in bouquets due to its beautiful scent.

  • The trellis in our backyard is covered with flowering Lathyrus odoratus.

Synonyms

sweetpea
vsLathyrus odoratus
2 3.9

A climbing garden plant with small sweet smelling pastel flowers

is the Latin name used instead of the single-word common form
sweet pea
vsLathyrus odoratus
1 3.0

A climbing garden plant with small fragrant flowers in pale colors

is the Latin name used instead of the two-word common form

Surface Forms

Morphology

Lathyrus + odoratus

The binomial name combines a genus (Lathyrus) and a Latin epithet (odoratus, ‘scented’), so if a learner knew both constituents and the botanical naming convention they could infer ‘a scented/climbing pea’ (i.e. sweet pea). However, the elements are technical/Latin rather than common English words and require knowledge of taxonomy or Latin roots, so the relation is not fully obvious to an average B1 learner without that background.

Etymology

Lathyrus odoratus comes from old Latin words: Lathyrus was a word for a pea plant and odoratus means 'scented', so the name literally means 'scented pea' and that explains why gardeners call it 'sweet pea' for its pleasant smell.