Vetches
August 10, 2015
Vicia spp.
Life cycle
Climbing or trailing annual, biennial or perennial vines.
Leaves
Alternate, pinnately compound with several pairs of opposite, narrowly oblong leaflets. The terminal leaflet is modified into a branched, twining tendril used to climb.
Twining tendril of vetch.
Stems
Ascending, climbing or trailing stems are herbaceous but may become woody with age.
Pinnately compound leaf of vetch.
Flowers and fruit
Blue, purple or reddish pea-like flowers are borne on short stalks in the upper leaf axils or found crowded along one side of long, bare stalks. Fruit are variously sized pea-like pods.
Vetch flowers (left). Pea-like pods of vetch (right).
Reproduction
Seeds or rhizomes.
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