Common Vetch - Vicia sativa



Scientific Name: Vicia sativa (Fabaceae).

English Name: Common Vetch (Pea Family).

French Name: La Vesce commune.

5 Key Characters:
  • a member of the pea family.
  • very variable and can be erect, trailing or scrambling up to 40 cm high.
  • tendrils can be single or branched (or absent in young plants).
  • flowers in groups of 1 - 3, 10 - 30 mm long.
  • calyx (the green 'cup' the flower sits in) teeth almost equal.
Lookalikes: Other Vicia and Lathyrus spp.

Habitat: Was once widely cultivated for pasture or hay. Hedgerows, grassland, scrub.

Flowering Period: April-May-June-July-August-September.

Status: Very common.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:
All photos will enlarge in a new window if you click on them. Row 1 in the carpark of the Maison de la Nature in la Réserve naturelle de la Chérine in the Brenne, May, with an Alfalfa Weevil Hypera postica larva.


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