VICIA PUBESCENS

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

Common Name:- Fodder vetch

Homotypic Synonyms:- Vicia dasycarpa

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

philosopher Pliny for vetch.

Pubescens (L) Maturing, becoming downy-hairy.

General description:- Sparsely pubescent, annual

Stems:-

1) 10-60 cm.

Leaves:-

1) Leaflets, 3-5 pairs, 10-20 x 3-5 mm, elliptical to ovate-oblong.

2) Stipules, entire.

Flowers:-

1) Racemes, up to 6-flowered, sometimes longer than the leaves.

2) Lower calyx-teeth, equalling or longer than the tube.

3) Corolla, 4-8 mm, white.

Fruit:-

1) Legume, 12-16 x 3-4 mm, usually pubescent.

2) Seeds, 4-6, hilum 1/12-1/10 of the circumference.

Key features:-

1) Stem, glabrous or sparsely pubescent.

2) Lower calyx-teeth, as long as or longer than tube.

3) Leaflets, 3-5 mm wide.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Slightly damp spots in scrubland vegetation, open woodland, hedges,

road-sides and field margins. 0-900 m.

Distribution:- Throughout Greece, but rare in the interior and lacking in the far

north. - Widespread in the Mediterranean area to Cyprus, Crimea, Syria and

Palestine. Sparsely scattered across Crete.

Flowering time:- End of Mar to early June.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton