Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

AMERICAN VETCH

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Vicia americana Muhl. ex Willd. var. minor Hook.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 6 - 20 inches

Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August

Also Called:

Narrow-leaved american vetch, stiff-leaf vetch.

Stems:

Reclining or climbing, smooth, often zigzag.

Leaves:

Alternate, even-pinnately compound, tipped with clinging tendrils; leaflets 4-14, stiff, narrowly linear to linear-oblong, to 1.25 inch long, less than 1/5 inch wide; margins usually entire; tips rounded, blunt, or abruptly pointed; stipules usually serrate.

Inflorescences:

Racemes, loose, 3-5-flowered.

Flowers:

Calyces slightly swollen on 1 side; corollas papilionaceous, 1/2 to 1 inch long, bluish purple; banner with notched tip; stamens 10, 9 united, 1 free.

Fruits:

Pods, smooth, around 1 inch long; seeds 8-14, round.

Habitat:

Dry prairies, lowlands, bluffs, and roadsides.

Distribution:

Throughout except southwest corner.

Forage Value:

American vetch is good forage that is readily grazed by livestock. It tends to disappear from pastured areas.

Uses:

Native Americans utilized many parts of this plant. The seeds were used as food; leaves were applied to spider bites; tea made from the entire plant was used as eyewash; and roots were kept in the pocket as a good luck charm when gambling. Birds also eat the seeds.

American vetch