''Vicia pannonica'' is a species of
vetch
''Vicia'' is a genus of over 240 species of flowering plants that are part of the legume family (Fabaceae), and which are commonly known as vetches. Member species are native to Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Some other ...
known by the common name Hungarian vetch.
It is native to southern, central Europe and western Asia, and it is sometimes cultivated as an
agricultural crop
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
for use as
hay
Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...
and
fodder.
FAO EcoCrops
/ref> It may escape cultivation and grow as a casual roadside weed
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...
.
Description
This is an annual herb producing a hairy, climbing stem supported by the tendril
In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as '' Cuscuta''. There are many plants that have tend ...
s on its leaf-tips. The leaves are each made up of 10 to 20 oval or oblong leaflets measuring up to 2.5 centimeters in length. The inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
bears two to four pealike flowers each up to 2 centimeters long. The flower corolla is yellow or purple-marked and the back of the banner (the large top petal) is coated in soft hairs. The fruit is a hairy legume pod 2 to 3 centimeters long.
References
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants Profile
*
pannonica
Flora of Europe
Flora of Hungary
{{fabeae-stub