Flora of North America species comparison

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Vicia nigricans var. gigantea
Photo is of parent taxon

giant vetch
Habit Herbs perennial.
Stems

climbing, robust, 6–20 dm.
Leaves

9–23 cm;

tendrils usually branched;

stipules foliose, semisagittate, without nectariferous patch;

leaflets 16–30, blades ovate to lanceolate, 15–75 × 4–20 mm, apex obtuse, surfaces sparsely appressed-pubescent.
Inflorescences

6–25-flowered, 5–25 cm, somewhat shorter than subtending leaf rachis.
Flowers

15–25 mm;

calyx base symmetric, lobes unequal, longest one equal to tube;

corolla reddish purple to yellowish, banner oblong, blade equal to claw, glabrous;

style compressed abaxially, evenly pubescent throughout.
Legumes

black, oblong, 33–55 × 10–20 mm, oblique-tipped, glabrous;

stipe to 4 mm.
Seeds

3 or 4, purplish black, subglobose, 5–6 mm diam.;

hilum encircling 3/4+ circumference of seed.
2n

= 14.

Vicia nigricans var. gigantea
Phenology Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Upper margins of beaches, meadows, clearings, stream banks, thickets, mesic for­ests, open, coniferous forests, roadsides, forest edges.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; OR; WA; BC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

J. S. Lassetter and C. R. Gunn (1979) made a case for combining the common North American Pacific Coast taxon Vicia gigantea with V. nigricans of the South American Pacific Coast.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Vicia > Vicia nigricans
Synonyms V. gigantea, V. nigricans subsp. gigantea
Name authority (Hooker) Broich: Madroño 54: 70. (2007)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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