Ontario
Weeds: Tufted vetch
Table of Contents
- Name
- Other Names
- Family
- General Description
- Stems and Roots
- Flowers and Fruit
- Habitat
- Similar Species
- 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
Tufted vetch. A. Base of plant. B. top of flowering stem.
C. 2 seedpods.
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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