Definition of "sweet pea" [sweet pea]

• An annual climbing herb (Lathyrus odoratus) of the pea family, native to Italy, cultivated for its variously colored, fragrant flowers. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Well, that puts sweet pea all in perspective, I decided, but Tom Latimer, Zen FBI agent and curmudgeonly cradle-robber, calls Faye "love duck"?"
• "Roses were crisped, pansies were dead, stocks turned to sepia straw, fuchsias in shady spots withered past rejuvenation, babies’-breath smothered, sweet pea vines were sere and scentless."