VICIA HIRSUTA

Family and Genus:- See- LEGUMINOSAE/Sect. ERVUM

Common Name:- Hairy tare

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Vicia (L) Binder, to bind, a name used by the Roman naturalist and

philosopher Pliny for vetch.

Hirsuta (L) Rough-haired, covered in long hairs.

General description:- Very slender, weak-stemmed annual.

Stems:-

1) 20-50 cm.

Leaves:-

1) Leaflets, 4-8 pairs, 5-20 x 1-3(-5) mm, linear- or ovate-oblong.

2) Stipules, entire, the lower linear-lanceolate, often with 2-4 setaceous, teeth.

Flowers:-

1) Racemes, lax, 1- to 8-flowered, almost equalling the leaves.

2) Peduncles, somewhat shorter than the subtending leaf.

3) Calyx tube, campanulate, not gibbous:

a) teeth, linear-lanceolate, longer than the tube.

4) Corolla, 2-4(-5) mm, dirty white with a purplish tinge.

Fruit:-

1) Legume, 6-11 x 3-5 mm, black, usually pubescent.

2) Seeds, usually 2; hilum 1/3 of the circumference.

Key features:-

1) Corolla, 2-4(-5) mm.

2) Seeds, usually 2.

3) Lower stipules, linear-lanceolate, usually dentate.

4) Legume, usually pubescent.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Coastal habitats, scrubland vegetation and deciduous scrub, meadows,

road verges. 0-1300 m.

Distribution:- Common in N Greece, scattered in Peloponnisos and Ionian Islands.

- Widespread in Europe, Africa and temperate Asia.naturalised elsewhere. Rare on

Crete currently know from only two locations one near Vatolakos in the west and

Bramiana reservoir Ierapetra in the SE.

Flowering time:- Apr-June.

Photos by:- Courtesy Wiki-Commons