Vicia sativa
L. Common VetchClimbing or decumbent annual herb, pubescent or glabrescent; stems to 1 m long. Leaves 2–10 cm long excluding the simple or pinnate tendril; leaflets 4–18, variable, oblong to obovate, 5–40 mm long, 1–15 mm wide; stipules semi-sagittate, 3–8 mm long, dentate, with an ovate, yellowish central gland. Flowers 1–4, subsessile; calyx cylindric, 7–20 mm long, appressed-pilose or glabrescent, teeth subulate, subequal, shorter or longer than calyx tube; corolla 9–30 mm long, crimson, violet or pink; standard obovate to suborbicular, slightly longer than wings or keel, limb often shorter than claw; wings and keel not usually dark-tipped. Pod oblong, 2.5–8 cm long, 3–12 mm wide, compressed, yellow-brown to black, glabrous or pubescent; seeds 6–12, subglobose, 2–7 mm long, compressed, light or dark brown, often mottled. (1–2-seeded subterranean fruits sometimes present.)
LoM, MuM, Wim, GleP, Brid, VVP, VRiv, MSB, RobP, MuF, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, EGL, WPro, HSF, HNF, OtR, Strz, VAlp.
A polymorphic species, 5 subspecies generally recognised, but some authors recognising as many as 7 (Wiersema et al. 1990; Sell & Murrell 2009); the 3 subspecies naturalised in Victoria are native to southern Europe and south-west Asia.
Jeanes, J.A. (1996). Fabaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 3, Dicotyledons Winteraceae to Myrtaceae, pp. 663–829. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
SpinningSell, P.; Murrell G. (2009). Flora of Great Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom.
