Fabaceae FAMILY

Vicia cracca

Edibility

1/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

The seeds contain the anti-nutritional compound L-canavanine, a competitive inhibitor of arginine decarboxylase. This is removed by soaking the seeds in water prior to cooking and discarding the soak water.

Botanical Description

Vicia cracca is a herbaceous perennial climbing plant growing 30 - 180cm tall. The usually branching stems scramble over the ground, climbing into surrounding vegetation where they attach themselves by means of tendrils[ 74 Title Flora of the USSR. Publication Author Komarov. V. L. Website http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org Publisher Israel Program for Scientific Translation Year 1968 ISBN - Description An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet. ]. The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine. It has occasionally been cultivated as a food plant, but yields are too low to make it very worthwhile[ 2 Title Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Publication Author Hedrick. U. P. Publisher Dover Publications Year 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6 Description Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references. ]. It is sometimes used as a green manure. The plant can escape from cultivation and become a weed of cultivated and disturbed ground[ 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeEurasia - Norway to Portugal, east to eastern Siberia, China, Japan, Korea, Turkey and the Levant

HabitatGrassy and bushy places, avoiding acid soils[ 13 Title Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Publication Author Triska. Dr. Publisher Hamlyn Year 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3 Description Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore. , 17 Title Flora of the British Isles. Publication Author Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. Publisher Cambridge University Press Year 1962 ISBN - Description A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures. ]. Forest margins, thickets, scrub, hill slopes, valleys, grasslands, meadows, streamsides, wet sandy land, alluvium, fields, roadsides; at eleations up to 4,200 metres[ 266 Title Flora of China Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ Publisher Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. Year 1994 ISBN Description An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available. ].