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black vetch, giant vetch, spring vetch, tiny vetch

Hungarian vetch

Habit Herbs annual.
Stems

erect, sprawling, or climbing, robust, 3–8 dm.

Leaves

4–8 cm;

tendrils rudimentary or branched;

stipules foliose, approaching leaflets in size, semisagittate, with nectariferous patch abaxially;

leaflets 10–20, blades obovate or oblong-elliptic to linear, 5–20 × 2–6 mm, apex obtuse to truncate-emarginate, surfaces pilose.

Inflorescences

2–4-flowered, 0–1 cm.

Flowers

14–20 mm;

calyx base symmetric, lobes unequal, abaxial lobe subequal to tube;

corolla cream, sometimes with purplish tinge, banner oblong, blade subequal to claw, pubescent adaxially;

style compressed abaxially, pubescent apically, tufted abaxially.

Legumes

purple to black, elliptic, 20–30 × 7–11 mm, oblique-tipped, villous;

stipe to 1–2 mm.

Seeds

2–8, purplish, sometimes spotted black, globose to strongly flatted, 3–5 mm diam.;

hilum whitish, linear, encircling 1/6–1/4 circumference of seed.

2n

= 12.

Vicia nigricans

Vicia pannonica

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Pastures, meadows, roadsides.
Elevation 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
w North America; s South America (Argentina, Chile)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AR; CA; CT; GA; ID; NC; OR; WA; c Europe [Introduced in North America]
[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 pannonica is cultivated for forage and as a seed crop and has become locally established, particularly in Pacific Coast states.

(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. floridana, V. grandiflora, V. hassei, V. hirsuta, V. lathyroides, V. leucophaea, V. ludoviciana, V. lutea, V. minutiflora, V. narbonensis, V. nigricans, V. ocalensis, 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) Crantz: Stirp. Austr. Fasc. ed. 2, 2: 393. (1769)
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