Fabaceae
Legume Family
Purple vetch
Vicia americana Muhl. ex Willd.
- Stem: perennial; sprawling to 2’ long; some branching; smooth.
- Leaves: alternate; pinnately compound, variable in size, usually about 2 1/2” by 1 1/4”; usually five pairs of leaflets and three tendrils at the leaf tip; leaflets 5/8” by 1/4”, oval-elongate, smooth above and below; basal leaflets (stipules) 1/4” long with several pointed lobes.
- Inflorescence: racemes, five to seven flowered, on 2” flower stalks from the upper axils.
- Flowers: corolla purple, 5/8” long; calyx tubular, 1/4” long, smooth; flowering from mid-May to mid-June.
- Fruits: pods long-tubular, 1 1/8” long by 1/4” in diameter, light brown, smooth; splitting and twisting when mature; fruiting begins in late May.
- Habitat: common on moist and mesic prairies, also in moist, open woods.
- Notes: On drier sites in far western Iowa, the variety minor Hooker with narrow, densely hairy leaflets is very infrequent. Two other vetches, both introduced, might occasionally be seen in prairielike habitats. Vicia villosa Roth is sometimes seeded on roadsides. It is larger, with more leaflets on each leaf, and with many flowers (fifteen to twenty) on each raceme. The entire plant is hairy. Common vetch, V. sativa L., also escapes into roadsides and disturbed places. It has stems and leaves similar to V. americana, but its flowers are in pairs in the leaf axils.
- Bibliography from Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Vascular Plants of Iowa
Can be found in these counties:
