vetch, purple
| COMMON NAME: | Vetch, purple | |
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| SCIENTIFIC NAME: | Vicia americana | |
| FAMILY: | Fabaceae | |
| LIFECYCLE: | Annual | |
| FEATURES: | Common annual vetch species. Trailing, prostrate growth habit developing a dense smothering ground cover. Stems glabrous, green, thin. Leaves pinnately compound 5 to 8 cm in length with 10 to 16 leaflets. Leaflets linear with pinnate venation. A single tendril extends from the end of the leaf used for climbing. Inflorescence a cluster of tubular purple flowers. Inflorescence contains 20 to 40 individual flowers that aggregate on one side of the stem. Individual flowers are tubular, approximately 1 to 2 cm in length. |
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| DESCRIPTION: | All vetch species are very similar and are most easy differentiated by comparing flowers. Common vetch and purple vetch are very similar. Purple vetch produces a cluster of tubular purple flowers while common vetch produces solitary larger purple flowers. Purple vetch is often planted as a winter cover crops for winter weed control and nitrogen fixation. Also planted along roadsides as a ground cover. |
 Broad View |
 Flower / Seed Head |
 Leaf |
 Additional |
 Leaf |