Vicia villosa

"Notes: Western Ghats, Cultivated, Native of Mediterranean Region"

This introduced annual or biennial plant is 1–3' tall, branching occasionally and having a tendency to sprawl. The round stems have spreading white hairs and conspicuous ridges. The alternate compound leaves are up to 10" long and 2" across, consisting of 8-12 pairs of leaflets and a terminal tendril that clings to adjacent vegetation for support. The central stalk of each compound leaf has spreading white hairs. The leaflets are up to 1" long and ¼" across. They are oblong, oblong-lanceolate, or linear, and have smooth margins with small pointed tips. There are usually scattered white hairs across the lower or upper surface of the leaflets. Slender racemes of flowers up to 6" long develop from the axils of the compound leaves. The stalks of these racemes are covered with spreading hairs and often turn purple toward their tips. The one-sided racemes consist of 5-20 pairs of nodding flowers. These flowers vary in color from pink to blue-violet, depending on the strain or local ecotype. Each tubular flower is about ½–¾" long, consisting of 5 petals and a hairy calyx that is united at the base. Aside from its long tubular base, the flower has a typical pea-like structure, consisting of a standard, keel, and 2 side petals. The upper petal forming the standard is usually a darker shade of color than the remaining petals. The tubular calyx varies in color from green to purple and has hairy teeth. The lower teeth of the calyx are much longer than the upper teeth. The swollen base of the calyx protrudes behind the apex of the pedicel, rather than originating directly from it. The blooming period usually occurs from early to mid-summer and lasts about 1-2 months, although some plants may bloom later in the year. Each flower can produce a flat-sided seedpod that is up to 2" long and contains several round seeds. The root system produces rhizomes, enabling this plant to form vegetative colonies.

Hairy Vetch has attractive flowers in long racemes, usually in off-shades of pink or blue. There are several Vicia spp. (Vetches) that occur in Illinois, although botanists disagree among themselves over the exact number. For example, several varieties of Hairy Vetch have been identified, but Mohlenbrock (2002) considers some of these varieties to be distinct species. Hairy Vetch can be distinguished from other vetches by the presence of spreading hairs on its stems, the large number of flowers on its racemes (5-20 pairs), and the shape of its calyx (lower teeth much longer than the upper teeth; a swollen base that protrudes behind the pedicel). Some vetches with a similar appearance to Hairy Vetch include Vicia cracca (Cow Vetch) and Vicia dasycarpa (Smooth Vetch). However, Cow Vetch is a perennial plant that has appressed hairs on its stems and the calyx of its flowers doesn't have a protruding swollen base. Smooth Vetch is virtually identical to Hairy Vetch, except that it is largely lacking in hairs of any kind. This latter species is sometimes considered a variety of Hairy Vetch.

The following description is of V. villosa in general. Climbing or sprawling annual herb to 2 m. Leaves paripinnate with 4-12 pairs of leaflets, the rhachis usually terminating in a branched tendril; leaflets linear to elliptic. Inflorescence long-pedunculate, the peduncle longer than the flowers; 10 flowers or more per inflorescence. Corolla 10-20 mm, violet, purple or blue, sometimes with white or yellow wings. Pod 20-40 mm, brown.

Vicia villosa Roth, hairy vetch, is a vining, winter-active legume. It may be annual or biennial. It has a shallow root system. Stems may grow 2 to 5 feet long. Leaves bearing several leaflets grow perpendicular to the stem, and may terminate in tendrils. Stems and leaves of hairy vetch are pubescent (covered with a soft woolly fuzz) and tufts are present at the tips of stems. Flowers are purple. Seeds are round and black, and develop inside elongated and flattened pods.

winter vetch

This is a common plant in many areas of central and northern Illinois, but it is less common in southern Illinois (see Distribution Map). Official records probably underestimate its actual occurrence within the state. Hairy Vetch was introduced into the United States from Europe as a forage crop for livestock. Habitats include moist to mesic black soil prairies, grassy meadows along rivers or in woodlands, banks of rivers, shoulders of highway overpasses, areas along roads, edges of cropland, and abandoned fields. Sometimes this plant becomes an agricultural pest and invades fields, and it can also successfully compete against native plants in natural habitats. While Hairy Vetch forms colonies, they are not dense enough to exclude other species of plants, unlike the colonies that are formed by Coronilla varia (Crown Vetch).

Mediterranen region, Europe, west Asia.

Vicia villosa Roth:
Canary Islands (Africa & Madagascar)
Taiwan (Asia)
United States (North America)
Venezuela (South America)
Argentina (South America)
Canada (North America)
China (Asia)
Guatemala (Mesoamerica)
Mexico (Mesoamerica)
Costa Rica (Mesoamerica)
Colombia (South America)
Chile (South America)
Brazil (South America)
Bolivia (South America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Vicia villosa Brot.:
Argentina (South America)
Brazil (South America)
Canada (North America)
Uruguay (South America)
United States (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Cracca villosa L.:
India (Asia)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Native to Europe, N Africa and the Middle East but occurs elsewhere as a weed.

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Distribution: Europe, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, N.Africa; Russia: introduced in Pakistan.

Hairy vetch is a hardy type of vetch suited to wetter soil and colder winters than other winter-active legumes. Hairy vetch develops best under cool temperature conditions, on fertile loam soils; it is also productive on sandy or clay soils. It has been reported to grow well on light soils that are too sandy for crimson clover. It is only moderately sensitive to soil acidity.

Hairy vetch is distributed throughout the entire United States. For a current distribution map, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Website.

Annual or biennial, villous to subglabrous, climbing or procumbent. Leaf paripinnately compound, leaflets 8-24, 3-35 mm long, 1-8 mm broad, oblong-ovate to narrowly linear, mostly pilose; stipules semisagittate or falcate, entire; tendrils branched. Inflorescence an axillary peduncled raceme, peduncle as long as the leaf or shorter. Pedicel 1-3 mm long. Calyx 5-8 mm long, villous to sparsely pubescent, mouth oblique, teeth unequal, shorter or longer than the tube. Corolla violet, purple or blue. Vexillum 10-22 mm long. Fruit 2-4 cm long, 4-12 mm broad, glabrous or appressed pubescent, 2-8-seeded.

Annual, Herbs, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems or branches arching, spreading or decumbent, Stems prostrate, trailing, or mat f orming, Stems less than 1 m tall, Climbing by tendrils, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Stem hairs hispid to villous, Stems hairs pilose or spreading, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules green, triangulate to lanceolate or foliaceous, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Stipules cordate, lobed, or sagittate, Leaves compound, Leaves even pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets alternate or subopposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence axillary, Inflorescence secund, flowers mostly on one side, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx gibbous, inflated, or spurred, Calyx glabrous, Calyx hairy, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals white, Petals blue, lavander to purple, or violet, Petals bicolored or with red, purple or yellow streaks o r spots, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing petals auriculate, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens diadelphous, 9 united, 1 free, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Style sharply bent, Style hairy, Style hairy on one side only, Style with distal tuft of hairs, Fruit a legume, Fruit stipitate, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit exserted from calyx, Valves twisting or coiling after dehiscence, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black, Seed surface mottled or patchy.

This is a common plant in many areas of central and northern Illinois, but it is less common in southern Illinois (see Distribution Map). Official records probably underestimate its actual occurrence within the state. Hairy Vetch was introduced into the United States from Europe as a forage crop for livestock. Habitats include moist to mesic black soil prairies, grassy meadows along rivers or in woodlands, banks of rivers, shoulders of highway overpasses, areas along roads, edges of cropland, and abandoned fields. Sometimes this plant becomes an agricultural pest and invades fields, and it can also successfully compete against native plants in natural habitats. While Hairy Vetch forms colonies, they are not dense enough to exclude other species of plants, unlike the colonies that are formed by Coronilla varia (Crown Vetch).

Hairy vetch is planted in the fall wherever it is grown. It is normally seeded at 20 to 40 pounds per acre. Due to the vining, climbing habit of the plant, it is often sown in combination with rye so the rye may provide some support. In a mixture, 50 pounds of rye and 15 to 20 pounds of vetch per acre should be used.

The nectar of the flowers attracts long-tongued bees primarily, especially bumblebees. Less common visitors include butterflies and skippers. The caterpillars of the some butterflies and moths feed on vetches and other legumes, including Glaucopsyche lygdamus (Silvery Blue), Colias eurytheme (Orange Sulfur), and Caenurgina chloropha (Vetch Looper Moth). Insects feeding on the seeds or seedpods include Acanthoscelides spp. (Bean Weevils) and Pitedia persimilis (Stinkbug sp.), while Epicauta fabricii (Blister Beetle sp.) feed on the foliage and flowers. There are scattered reports of upland gamebirds eating the leaves or seeds of vetches to a limited extent, including the Ruffed Grouse, Wild Turkey, and Ring-Necked Pheasant. The foliage of Hairy Vetch is palatable and can be eaten by mammalian herbivores, although there have reports of cattle being poisoned after feeding from bags that contained seeds of Hairy Vetch. Photographic Location

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / parasite
Erysiphe pisi var. pisi parasitises Vicia villosa

Foodplant / spot causer
mostly hypophyllous colony of Ramularia anamorph of Ramularia sphaeroidea causes spots on leaf of Vicia villosa
Other: major host/prey

Rare?

Annual.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 4
Specimens with Barcodes: 6
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural Resources for this plant’s current status (e.g. threatened or endangered species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

There are no serious insect or disease pests of mature hairy vetch; however, the seed is highly susceptible to vetch bruchid (Bruchus brachialis) injury. This insect pest is largely responsible for poor natural reseeding of hairy vetch in pastures.

‘Americus’ (Turkey), ‘AU Early Cover’ (Alabama naturalized stand), and ‘Madison’. Seeds are available from most commercial seed sources.

Please contact your local agricultural extension specialist or county weed specialist to learn what works best in your area and how to use it safely. Always read label and safety instructions for each control method. Trade names and control measures appear in this document only to provide specific information. USDA, NRCS does not guarantee or warranty the products and control methods named, and other products may be equally effective.

Hairy vetch performs well in rotations with conventional and no-till planted row crops. In these systems, the fall planted legume is either mechanically or chemically killed 2 to 3 weeks prior to planting or it is sprayed at planting. A heavy disking may be advantageous prior to turning or it may be sufficient as a primary operation depending on the top growth of the vetch. The row-crop is then planted conventionally or no-tilled into the cover crop. The legume decomposes, providing nitrogen for the following crop. When grown for hay, vetch is generally cut when the first pods are set. It may be cut using a mower with a swather attachment. If grown as a seed crop, hairy vetch is harvested when the lower pods are ripe to avoid shattering. If carefully managed, hairy vetch may be grown with Bermudagrass. Vetch volunteers profusely when allowed to disseminate seed.

This plant may become weedy or invasive in some regions or habitats and may displace desirable vegetation if not properly managed. Please consult with your local NRCS Field Office, Cooperative Extension Service office, or state natural resource or agriculture department regarding its status and use. Weed information is also available from the PLANTS Web site at plants.usda.gov.

Full or partial sun, moist to mesic conditions, and fertile loamy soil are preferred, although sometimes this plant is found in drier locations, such as slopes. It does well in grassy areas, because the blades of grass provide support for the tendrils while admitting sufficient sunlight for the leaves. Like many other introduced vetches, Hairy Vetch can spread aggressively.

Erosion control: Hairy vetch’s capacity to provide a heavy mulch aids in soil and water conservation.

Crop: Hairy vetch is grown as a cover preceding such crops as safflower, corn, tobacco, cotton, rice, tomatoes, and other vegetables. Hairy vetch is valuable for use in no-till corn rotations, especially in regions that are less favorable for clover and pea cultivation. It may also be used in orchards and vineyards. Hairy vetch is noted for its ability to fix large quantities of nitrogen.

Livestock: It is grown for hay, pasture, silage, seed, or as interim cover on disturbed soil.