Mountain Almorta (Lathyrus cicera)

The flower of the Lathyrus cicera is red

Image - Flickr / Anne SORBES

There are herbs that, due to their characteristics, can even go almost unnoticed, but when they bloom they are wonderful, like the species lathyrus cicera. Its thin stems and of a common green color are not easy to distinguish in the field, and less when it is surrounded by plants that are of the same color.

However, It is interesting to grow it in pots or in those gardens that are changing over the years.

Origin and characteristics

It is a annual or perennial climbing herb (depending on the climate: if it is temperate-cold it will dry out in winter, but if it is warm it will live for a few years) whose scientific name is lathyrus cicera. Popularly it receives the names of amorta de monte, alverjón, Lisbon peas, galbana, gríjoles, wild peas, or sabillones. It is native to Europe and Asia, where it is found in grasslands.

Reaches a height of up to 1 meter, with thin greenish stems. The leaves are composed of 1 or 2 pairs of opposite leaflets and a tendril. The flowers are red, and the fruit is a legume of up to 50mm, with a trapezoidal shape. It blooms from spring to summer.

What are their cares?

If you want to have a specimen of almorta de monte, we recommend you take care of it in the following way:

  • Location: it must be outside, in full sun.
  • Earth:
    • Pot: with universal cultivation substrate it will go well.
    • Garden: grows in fertile soils, with good drainage.
  • Irrigation: frequent in summer, rather scarce the rest of the year. Water an average of 4 times a week in warm season, and every 3-4 days the rest.
  • Subscriber: in spring and summer you can be paid with guano, compost or others homemade fertilizers.
  • Multiplication: by seeds in spring. Sow them in a seedling tray, and they will germinate in 2-3 days.
  • Rusticity: it resists the cold, but the frosts harm it.
View of the Lathyrus cicera

Image - Wikimedia / Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz

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