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Fabaceae FAMILY

Vicia benghalensis

Vicia benghalensis

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
0/5

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[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual/Perennial
GrowthFast

Vicia benghalensis is a plant of Mediterranean climates, where it is found at elevations up to 2,800 metres. It can tolerate a range of climates from semi-arid, through moist temperate and subtropical. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 18 - 24°c, but can tolerate 8 - 30°c[2]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -1°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at -1°c[2]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 700 - 900mm, but tolerates 310 - 1,660mm[2]. Species in this genus generally succeed in any well-drained soil in a sunny position if the soil is reliably moist throughout the growing season, otherwise they are best grown in semi-shade[3]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7, tolerating 4.5 - 8.2[2]. This species is closely related to Vicia villosa[4]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[5].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ in spring or autumn. The seed has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Vicia+benghalensis>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]Single-flowered vetch (Vicia articulata Hornem.): A relic crop in Italy — Laghetti G.; Piergiovanni A.R.; Galasso I.; Hammer K. & Perr · 200 ↩︎
  2. [2]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  4. [4]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  5. [5]Nodulation Plants in GRIN Taxonomy — United States Department of Agriculture · http://www.ars-grin.gov/~sbmljw/cgi-bin/taxnodul.pl?language=en ↩︎An online database listing plants that have either positive or negative reports on root and stem nodulation with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
  6. [6]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  7. [7]Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. — Grae. I. · MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. · 1974 · ISBN 0-02-544950-8 ↩︎A very good and readable book on dyeing.