Lathyrus formosus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is an herbaceous perennial which grows primarily in high mountain areas on shale or rocky ground in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and the Caucasus. The species was described as Orobus formosus in 1812, and has been known by several other names until being reclassified as Lathyrus formosus in 2021. The synonym Vavilovia was named after the Russian geneticist, economic botanist, and plant geographer, Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov.