Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

American Vetch
Vicia americana
Pea family (Fabaceae)

American Vetch is a and provides forage for a range of wildlife and livestock. It is commonly found inter-tangled with other plants, but its vibrant flowers usually attract our attention. There are a number of varieties and similar species of American Vetch. They are commonly used to help restore lands as part of mining reclamation or other habitat remediation efforts. American Vetch is a common plant in much of the United States and southern Canada. Linnaeus named this in 1753, and Gotthiff Muhlenberg (1753-1815) named this species in 1801. The name "Vetch" is applied to members of several of the Pea Family. "Vicia" is the classical Latin name for this plant.


©2010 Peter M. Dziuk, Minnesota Wildflowers

Description

Slender vine , 6-30" tall. Four to 10 red-purple to blue-purple flowers are arranged in loose clusters () on stalks arising from leaf axils. , . The 8-18 are variable in size and shape but typically elliptical to . borne in flat, hairless pods containing 2 or more brown peas. Tendrils arising from ends allow the plant to grip surrounding vegetation.

Field Marks

Red/purple flowers; compound leaves tipped with tendrils.

© Al Schneider

genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant number of similar characteristics.

A leaf is compound when multiple leaflets are on the same stem.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

legume -- A fruit of the family Fabaceae (pea family). Perhaps the crop as in soybeans or clover. Sometimes a plant of the family Fabaceae.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

pinnate -- A compound leaf with two rows of leaflets.

leaflets -- Each little leaf-like thing in a compound leaf is a leaflet.

A raceme is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along its axis.

leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

oblong -- Having an elongated form with somewhat parallel sides. Rectangular.