PULSE FAMILY LEGUMINOSAE 
HAIRY VETCH 
Vicia villosa Roth 
The Hairy Vetch is a European plant which is frequently 
planted as a forage crop in this country, and has escaped into 
dry open soil until in some places it is more common than any 
native species. This an- 
nual or sometimes per- 
ennial is known through- 
out the eastern half of 
the United States, 
particularly in orchards, 
where experience has 
shown it to be the best 
legume for enriching the 
soil. 
The rather weak and 
slender, climbing or 
trailing stems grow 2-4 
feet long. They, together 
with the flower stalks 
. and leaves, are densely 
UD) covered with soft short 
\ ¢ hairs. Leaflets are 8-24 
and usually the terminal 
3 are modified into ten- 
drils, by means of which the plant climbs. 
The white and bluish or violet flowers, blooming from May 
to September, are crowded in large numbers in the more or less 
1-sided flower clusters. The calyx is 5-toothed with the 2 upper 
teeth shorter. The standard is oblong and stalked. The wing 
petals, also oblong, are attached to the middle of the keel, which 
is curved and slightly shorter than the other petals. Stamens 
are united at the base but 1 is separate the greater part of its 
length. The style is slender and has a tuft of hairs at the end, 
but the short-stalked, 5-8-seeded pod is smooth. 
In the northern half of the state the Purple or American Vetch, 
Vicia americana Muhl., is quite common in moist places. It is 
perennial and nearly smooth, trailing or climbing 2-3 feet. The 
stipules are conspicuous, being leaflike, sharply toothed and some- 
times one-half inch long. There are only 2-9 bluish purple flowers 
loosely arranged in each cluster, and the smooth, short-stalked pod 
is 4-7-seeded. 
172 
