Vicia americana Muhl. ex Willd.
American vetch
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
American vetch
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a rhizome; stems mostly single, trailing or climbing, nearly glabrous to densely hairy, 15-100 cm long/tall.
Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound; leaflets 8 to 12 (18), linear to oval, blunt, notched, pointed, or few-toothed at the tip, 1-3.5 cm long, glabrous to hairy, thin to leathery with prominent parallel veins on lower surface; tendrils simple to branched, grasping; stipules deeply toothed, 3-10 mm long, crescent-shaped.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a loose, axillary, stalked raceme of 3 to 9 pea-like flowers, the racemes shorter than the subtending leaves; corollas bluish-purple to reddish-purple, 12-23 mm long; calyces 1/3 as long as the corollas, the 5 teeth to nearly 1/2 the length of the tube.
Fruits:
Pods, glabrous, 2.5-4 cm long.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Vicia americana
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
843 | 2 | 2500 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
17 | -2 | 262 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
191 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
1957 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(1), BG(36), BWBS(408), CDF(18), CWH(58), ESSF(15), ICH(86), IDF(554), MS(77), PP(36), SBPS(73), SBS(509), SWB(21) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to mesic meadows, thickets and open forests in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common in S two-thirds of BC, less frequent northward, absent from the Queen Charlotte Islands; N to SE AK and NT, E to PQ and NB and S to OH, KS, WV, NM and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Vicia americana var. americana Willd. [superfluous autonym]