CROWN VETCH
File Size: 61 KB
 
Coronilla varia  L.
Morris County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: To 3 feet (usually low)
Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family
Flowering Period:   June, July, August
Stems: Trailing to ascending, 1-3 feet long, branched, mostly glabrous, often forming dense tangled mats.
Leaves: Alternate, odd-pinnately compound, stalked below, sessile above, 2 to 4 inches long; leaflets 9-25, egg-shaped, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, less than 1/4 inch wide; margins entire.
Inflorescences: Umbels, on stalks 2 to 6 inches long in leaf axils, 5-20-flowered.
Flowers: Calyces 5-lobed; lower lobes 3, distinctly divided; upper lobes 2, nearly united, longer than lower lobes; corollas papilionaceous, to 1/2 inch long, petals pink, white or pinkish lavender; stamens 10, 9 united, 1 free.
Fruits: Pods, narrow, finger-like, 1 to 2 inch long, 4-angled; seeds 3-12, smooth, brown.
Habitat: Highway embankments, disturbed sites, and open waste areas.
Distribution: East two thirds of Kansas.
Origin: Native of the Mediterranean region.
Uses: Often planted along roads for erosion control and is sometimes also used as an ornamental.

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