Fabaceae FAMILY

Vicia sativa

Edibility

3/5

Medicinal

0/5

Safety & Hazards

There is some evidence that the seed may be toxic but this has only been shown under laboratory conditions, there are no recorded cases of poisoning by this plant in Britain[ 76 Title Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. Publication Author Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. Publisher HMSO Year 1984 ISBN 0112425291 Description Concentrates mainly on the effects of poisonous plants to livestock. ].

Botanical Description

Vicia sativa is an annual to biennial plant growing 20 - 120 cm tall. The erect or ascending stems can be branched or unbranched, often scrambling over the ground or climbing into the 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 harvested from the wild for local use as a food. It has a long history of cultivation, dating back to at least 500 BCE when it was grown as a food crop. It is still occasionally cultivated for this purpose, though the seed is purported to contain anti-nutrtional compounds; it is much more often grown as a green manure and cover crop. The wild common vetch grows as a weed in spring crops. Particularly harmful is var. platysperma Barab., which grows as a weed among lentil crops and is difficult to separate from the latter[ 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. ]..

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeEurope, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to N. Africa and W. Asia.

HabitatHedges and grassy places, avoiding acid soils or shady positions[ 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. ]. Field edges, waste places, crops, as a weed among oats, barley, rye and sometimes lentils[ 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. ].