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Fabaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Vicia ervilia

Vicia ervilia

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

One report says that the seed might be poisonous[1]. The seeds are considered poisonous to pigs and are dangerous to cattle at the time when the pods are nearing maturity and are still moist[2].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual
Growth—

Vicia ervillia is a plant of the Mediterranean and semi-arid climates in the temperate zone, where it is found at elevations up to 1,100 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 12 - 22°c, but can tolerate 5 - 28°c[2]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -10°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at -1°c[2]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 500 - 700mm, but tolerates 300 - 1,200mm[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 7 - 7.5, tolerating 5.6 - 8.2[2]. The plant is resistant to drought even during the early growing period[2]. Cultivated for its edible seed in France[4, 5]. Vicia ervilia belongs to the old Near East crop assemblage, prehistoric remains are known from the 7/6th mill. BC from Anatolia and Greece, later also from Bulgaria and the Transcaucasus. The past centre of cultivation included the Levante, Turkey, SE Europe and domestication took place presumably in Anatolia. Here is also the centre of variation of this crop[6]. Annual yielsa of seeds may be 0.4 - 3 tonnes per hectare[2]. 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[7]. When removing plant remains at the end of the growing season, it is best to only remove the aerial parts of the plant, leaving the roots in the ground to decay and release their nitrogen.

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+ervilia>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  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]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  5. [5]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  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]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.
  8. [8]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎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.
  9. [9]Revision of Vicia L. (Leguminosae) in Central Anatolia, Turkey. — Okan Kaan Binzat · 2012 · http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12615083/index.pdf ↩︎A thesis submitted to the Graduate School of Natural and Allpied Sciences of Middle east Technical University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences
  10. [10]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  11. [11]Flowers of Greece and the Balkans. — Polunin. O. · Oxford University Press · 1980 · ISBN 0-19-217626-9 ↩︎A good pocket flora, it also lists quite a few plant uses.
  12. [12]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Single-flowered vetch (Vicia articulata Hornem.): A relic crop in Italy — Laghetti G.; Piergiovanni A.R.; Galasso I.; Hammer K. & Perr · 200 ↩︎