Crown vetch

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Crown vetch inflorescences

Crown vetch

Crown vetch flowers

Crown vetch

Crown vetch leaves

Crown vetch fruit

Crown vetch

Morphology

Stem

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.

Inflorescence

Umbels, on stalks 2 to 6 inches long in leaf axils, 5-20-flowered.

Flower

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.

Fruit

Pods, narrow, finger-like, 1 to 2 inch long, 4-angled; seeds 3-12, smooth, brown.

Ecology

Habitat

Highway embankments, disturbed sites, and open waste areas.

Distribution

East two thirds of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

Often planted along roads for erosion control and is sometimes also used as an ornamental.