Vicia pannonica
Vicia pannonica
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
Vicia pannonica is a plant of the temperate zone, often found in semi-arid regions, growing at elevations up to 1,300 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 10 - 17°c, but can tolerate 4 - 22°c[1]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -18°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at -1°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 50 - 700mm, but tolerates 350 - 1,030mm[1]. 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[2]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7.5, tolerating 4.9 - 8.2[1]. As a minor forage crop grown in W, central and SE Europe, also in the Near Eastern countries; in S Europe mainly for seed production, otherwise for green or dry forage and as pasture plant. Also cultivated for similar purposes in the Pacific North-west of the USA, here also for green manuring. Rarely grown elsewhere. The species is important because of its winter-hardiness and drought-tolerance. It was sown often mixed with winter cultivars of cereals. The cultivation was firstly recommended by French and German breeding firms in the second half of the 19th cent. The cultivars belong to subsp. Pannonica, but subsp. Striata has more recently introduced into breeding and cultivation trials, too[3]. 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[4].
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+pannonica>
Pollinators
Insects
References
- [1]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.
- [2]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.
- [3]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.
- [4]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.
- [5]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.
- [6]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.