Cow Vetch

(Vicia cracca)

 

Color drawing: C. A. M. Lindman (1901-1905), Bilder ur Nordens Flora.

Cow Vetch (Vicia cracca)

Alien: Native of Europe.

Identification: A climbing vine. Flowers blue-violet to purple, arranged in a crowded, one-sided spike arising on a long flower stalk from the leaf axil. Short stem connecting flower to the flower cluster (pedicel) arises from the rear margin of the calyx. Stem smooth. Leaves divided into 5 to 12 pairs of opposite leaflets with an apical tendril. Apex of each leaflet pointed.

Distribution: Southeastern Canada southward to Missouri in the west to Georgia in the east.

Habitat: Cow Vetch is found in fields, pastures, and thickets.

Flowering period: May to August.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Cow Vetch (Vicia cracca)

Similar Species:

Hairy Vetch (Vicia villosa)

Spring Vetch (Vicia sativa)

 

 

Similar Species