Lathyrus hierosolymitanus Boiss. is a secondary wild relative of L. sativus L., the cultivated grass pea (Yunus and Jackson 1991, Sarker et al. 2001, Brink and Belay 2006),  L. cicera L. and L. odoratus L., and more remotely is a tertiary wild relative of L. ochrus (L.) DC. (Kupicha 1983).

European regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)

EU 27 regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)

This species is widespread and common and its population is considered stable. It is not facing major threats, therefore its regional assessment in Europe is Least Concern.

L. hierosolymitanus only occurs in Greece in Europe, but is also found in parts of western Asia and north Africa (USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program 2010).

This is a widespread species, common throughout its range, even though typically found as small groups of individuals (three to four individuals). Its population is considered stable.

It is often found in woodland margins, cultivated margins and roadsides.

Use of herbicides and overgrazing are the main threats.

Lathyrus hierosolymitanus is a secondary wild relative of L. sativus L., the cultivated grass pea (Yunus and Jackson 1991, Sarker et al. 2001, Brink and Belay 2006),  L. cicera L. and L. odoratus L., and more remotely is a tertiary wild relative of L. ochrus (L.) DC. (Kupicha 1983).

This species is likely to be grazed by wild and domesticated species in the pasture and agricultural margins.

The genus Lathyrus is listed in Annex I of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture as part of the grasspea gene pool.

L. hierosolymitanus has germplasm stored ex situ in several genebanks worldwide, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Gatersleben, Germany), Millennium Seed Bank (Haywards Heath, United Kingdom), Experimental Station of Plant Production (Ustymivka, Ukraine), Aegean Agricultural Research Institiute (Menemen, Turkey), ICARDA (Aleppo, Syria) and University of Reading (Reading, UK) gene banks. In total, 144 accessions are stored in genebanks (Sarker et al. 2001). Research on distribution, and specifically to know if it occurs in protected areas, should be condicted.

EURISCO reports seven germplasm accessions held in European genebanks, five of which are reported to be of wild or weedy origin. Of the wild accessions, only one originates from within Europe. This accession originates from Cyprus and is stored in Ustymivka Experimental Station of Plant Production, Ukraine (EURISCO Catalogue 2010).

In situ the species is likely to be passively conserved in many existing protected areas throughout its range but as its conservation in these sites is not actively monitored it may be subject to population loss over time from factors such as climate change.