Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Ontario Weeds: Tufted vetch

Table of Contents

1. Name
2. Other Names
3. Family
4. General Description
   • Photos and Pictures
5. Stems and Roots
6. Flowers and Fruit
7. Habitat
8. Similar Species
9. Related Links

Name: Tufted vetch, Vicia cracca L.,

Other Names: vesce jargeau, Bird vetch, jargeau, vesce multiflore, petits-oiseaux

Family: Legume or Bean Family (Leguminosae)

General Description: Perennial, reproducing by seed and by spreading underground root-stocks.

Photos and Pictures

Stems & Roots: Stems 40cm-2m (16-80in.) long, weak, wiry, trailing on the ground or climbing on nearby objects; leaves alternate (1 per node), pinnately compound with 8 to 12 pairs of bristle-tipped leaflets and branching tendrils at the end; the plant climbing by means of these tendrils.

Flowers & Fruit: Flowers bluish-purple, pea-like, about 12mm (1/2in.) long, often 30 or more crowded together on one side of a long bare stalk; seedpods pea-like, 10-25mm (2/5-1in.) long by 4-6mm (1/6-¼in.) wide, partly flattened, light brown, containing 2 to 8 rounded to oval reddish-brown seeds; seeds 2.5-3mm (1/10-1/8in.) across and marked with a prominent, long, whitish or reddish-brown scar. Flowers from early June to late autumn.

Habitat: Tufted vetch occurs throughout Ontario in cultivated fields, pastures, waste places, roadsides and gardens.

Similar Species: It is distinguished by its spreading underground rootstalks, compound leaves with 8 to 12 pairs of leaflets and branching tendrils, many flowers clustered on one side of a long stalk, and its flattened, brownish seedpods containing up to 8 rounded seeds, each with a scar extending ¼ to 1/3 of the way around it.

Related Links

... on general Weed topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control

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