Vicia craccaL. Bird vetch

Vicia craccaL. - Bird vetch

Scientific Description:

Slender perennial, erect or climbing, glabrescent or adpressed-hairy. Leaflets (5−)8−16(−20)-paired, 0.8−4 cm, ovate-oblong to linear; stipules slender, semi-hastate, nearly always entire; tendrils branched. Peduncle shorter or longer than leaf; raceme 10−40-flowered, dense or lax. Flowers 13−18(−20) mm, violet or lilac (rarely white). Calyx 3−6 mm, scarcely gibbous, often purplish, the lowest tooth shorter to slightly longer than tube. Limb of standard subequal to nearly twice as long as claw. Style laterally compressed. Legume 20−30 mm, always glabrous. Seeds several.

subsp. stenophylla Vel.

Leaflets narrowly linear, 10−30 × 0.5−2(−3) mm, acute; habit bushy, with branches and leaf rachides slender and rigid; inflorescence usually lax, flowers often more spreading; limb of standard up to 1½ × as long as claw; legume obliquely oblanceolate, more attenuate below than in any other subspecies

Flowering Time: May−July.

Habitat: Corn and fallow fields, less commonly in scrub, on rocky slopes and on banks, nr. s.l.−2200 m.

Reference:

Davis PH & Plitmann U (1970). Vicia cracca L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 3: 281.

Public Description:

Vicia cracca subsp. stenophylla, commonly known as “bird vetch” or “cow vetch”, is native to Europe, Türkiye and Asia. It is a perennial plant with violet, lilac or rarely white flowers. It blooms between May and July and is found in corn and fallow fields, less commonly in scrub, on rocky slopes and on banks. It is widely used as a forage crop for cattle. Like other legumes, nitrogen-fixing properties enrich the soil with nitrogen and benefit other plants. It is also used by bees and butterflies as a source of nectar. The plant may also be used to curb erosion.

References:

Anonymous 1 (2018). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicia_cracca,Accessed date: 31.03.2018.

Anonymous 2 (2018). https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/search/?q=Vicia+cracca+,Accessed date: 31.03.2018.

Ertekin AS (2012). Vicia L. In: Güner, A, Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 500–505.