VICIA LUTEA

Family and Genus:- See- LEGUMINOSAE/Sect. VICIA

Common Names:- Hairy yellow vetchling

Homotypic Synonyms:- Hypechusa lutea, Vicioides lutea, Wiggersia lutea.

Meaning:- Vicia (L) Binder, to bind, a name used by the Roman naturalist and

philosopher Pliny for vetch.

Lutea (L) Yellow, vile, of clay, muddy.

General description:- Low to medium, prostrate or clambering, hairy annual.

Stems:-

1) 60 cm tall. ascending to erect, sparingly branched.

Leaves:-

1) Leaflets, 5-9 pairs, those of the lower leaves usually elliptical, upper oblong,

usually sparsely pilose, tendrils branched.

2) Stipules, small, usually incised-serrate.

Flowers:-

1) Solitary or sometimes paired, subsessile in the upper leaf axils.

2) Calyx tube, campanulate, slightly gibbous:

a) teeth, distinctly unequal, the longest much exceeding the tube.

3) Corolla, 18-30 mm, various shades of pale yellow, pink or mauve.

Fruit:-

1) Legume, oblong, compressed, usually 20-35 x 7-12 mm, pubescent usually with

long tubercle-based hairs, yellowish-brown to black, beak curved.

2) Seeds 3-9; hilum 1/3-1/2 of the circumference.

Key features:-

1) Leaflets, 5-9 pairs, those of lower leaves usually elliptical.

2) Corolla, 18-30 mm, various shades of pale yellow, pink or mauve.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Cultivated ground, track sides, grassy coastal habitats, stabilised shingle

and sand-dunes.

Distribution:- Widespread throughout the Mediterranean, except Cyprus and parts

of the E. Mediterranean. Widespread and common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Apr-Aug.

Photo by:- Steve Lenton