hairy vetch
Family
FabaceaeScientific Name
Vicia villosa
Other Common Names:
fodder vetch
winter vetch
smooth vetch
Synonyms (former Scientific Names):
Vicia pseudocracca
Vicia ambigua
Vicia varia
Vicia basycarpa
Vicia elangantissima
Vicia microphylla
Habit
Erect or ascending vine up to 3 feet tall.
Leaves
Pinnate compound leaves arranged alternately along the stem. Each leaf has between 8 and 20 leaflets with each being about 1 inch long and pubescent.
Flower Seed Head
Small purple flowers develop on short stalks with 10 to 40 flowers per stalk.
Seed Fruit
Sperichal seeds from green to black in color that develop in small pods that look like other bean species about 0.25 inches in diameter. Pods have between 1 and 5 seed per pod.
Where Found
Fields, roadsides, pastures, waste sites
Growth Habit
vine
Thorns or Spines
not present
Approximate Flower Diameter
pencil
Dominant Flower Color
purple
Flower Symmetry
radial symmetery
Leaf Hairs
Varies:
no hairs,
has hairs
Leaf Shape
Varies:
needle,
lance
Leaf Arrangement
alternate
Leaf Margin
entire
Leaf Structure
pinnate
Leaf Stalk
Varies:
none,
shorter than leaf
Stem Hairs
no hairs
Stem Cross Section
round or oval
Milky Sap
not present
Root Structure
Varies:
fibrous,
taproot
Life Cycle
summer annual
Ochrea
not present
Plant Type
Vine