Flora of North America species comparison

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Vicia nigricans

Vicia floridana

black vetch, giant vetch, spring vetch, tiny vetch

Florida vetch
Habit Herbs perennial.
Stems

sprawling or climbing, filiform, 3–8 dm.
Leaves

3–5 cm;

tendrils simple;

stipules much smaller than leaflets, semisagittate, without nectariferous patch;

leaflets 2–6, blades usually broadly elliptic to oblong or oblanceolate, sometimes linear, 7–18 × 2–8 mm, apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous.
Inflorescences

2–8-flowered, 2–5 cm, shorter to longer than subtending leaf rachis.
Flowers

5–6 mm;

calyx base symmetric, lobes equal, much shorter than tube;

corolla white to bluish, banner pandurate, blade equal to claw, glabrous;

style compressed adaxially, pubescent apically.
Legumes

brown to black, broadly oblong, 8–15 × 3–5 mm, oblique-tipped, glabrous;

stipe to 1–2 mm.
Seeds

1 or 2, purplish black, compressed-globose, 3 mm diam.;

hilum encircling 1/2–3/4 circumference of seed.

Vicia nigricans

Vicia floridana
Phenology Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Moist soils, ditches, roadsides.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
w North America; s South America (Argentina, Chile)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; GA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).

Variety nigricans is known from Pacific coastal areas of southern South America.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Vicia floridana is distinguished from V. acutifolia by the broader leaflets (elliptic to lanceolate versus linear) and shorter (8–15 mm versus 20–25 mm) fruits.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Vicia Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Vicia
Sibling taxa
V. acutifolia, V. americana, V. benghalensis, V. caroliniana, V. cracca, V. disperma, V. faba, V. floridana, V. grandiflora, V. hassei, V. hirsuta, V. lathyroides, V. leucophaea, V. ludoviciana, V. lutea, V. minutiflora, V. narbonensis, V. ocalensis, V. pannonica, V. pulchella, V. sativa, V. sepium, V. tetrasperma, V. villosa
V. acutifolia, V. americana, V. benghalensis, V. caroliniana, V. cracca, V. disperma, V. faba, V. grandiflora, V. hassei, V. hirsuta, V. lathyroides, V. leucophaea, V. ludoviciana, V. lutea, V. minutiflora, V. narbonensis, V. nigricans, V. ocalensis, V. pannonica, V. pulchella, V. sativa, V. sepium, V. tetrasperma, V. villosa
Subordinate taxa
V. nigricans var. gigantea
Name authority Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Beechey Voy., 20. (1830) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 14: 292. (1879)
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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