Lathyrus (Leguminosae; Papilionoideae) is the largest genus in tribe Fabeae and exhibits an intriguing extratropical distribution. We studied the systematics and biogeography of Lathyrus using sequence data, from accessions representing 53 species, for the internal transcribed spacer plus 5.8S-coding region of nuclear ribosomal DNA as well as the trnL-F and trnS-G regions of chloroplast DNA. Our results generally supported recent morphology-based classifications, resolving clades corresponding to sections Lathyrus and Lathyrostylis, but question the monophyly of the large, widespread section Orobus sensu Asmussen and Liston. Sections Orobus, Aphaca, and Pratensis form a predominantly northern Eurasian-New World clade. Within this clade, the North American and eastern Eurasian species, including both Holarctic species (L. palustris and L. japonicus), form a transberingian clade of relatively recent origin and diversification. The South American Notolathyrus group is distant from this transberingian lineage and should be reinstated as a distinct section within the northern Eurasian-New World clade. The Notolathyrus lineage reached the New World most probably through long-distance dispersal from Eurasia. The remaining sections in the genus are centered on the Mediterranean region.