570 



MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



Fig. 313a. Map showing distribution of stemless loco weed (Oxytropis Lamberti). The 

 plant reaches western Iowa on the loess bluffs where it is abundant. The disease however has 

 never been reported so far as I know from this section of the state. Map after Marsh. U. S. 

 Dept. Agr. 



Marsh thinks, will help to keep the weed in check if the insect will not lose its 

 efficiency in the course of a few years. 



18. Vicia (Tourn.) L. Vetch or Tare 



Herbs, generally of trailing or climbing habit, with pinnate tendril bearing 

 leaves; flowers generally racemose; calyx 5-cleft or 5-toothed, divisions nearly 

 equal; corolla with the standard clawed and the wings adherent to the keel; 

 stamens diadelphous or monadelphous ; pod flat, 2-valved with several seeds; 

 seeds globular; embryo with thick cotyledons. About 120 species, widely distrib- 

 uted. Some species used for forage, especially in Europe. The hairy vetch 

 (V. villosa} has been widely distributed in the west because of the drouth re- 

 sisting qualities. Our most common native species is the American vetch (V. 

 americana) which might well be introduced as a forage plant. 



Vicia saliva L. Common Vetch 



A smooth or slightly pubescent annual from 1-2^ feet high with simple 

 stem ; leaflets 5-7 pairs, obovate-oblong to linear, notched or mucronate at the 

 tip; the 1 or 2 nearly sessile flowers are borne in the axils of the leaves; 

 flowers bluish purple; calyx teeth about as long as the tube; pod linear, several 

 seeded, seeds black. 



Distribution. From eastern Canada to Northwest Territory, New England 

 to the Carolinas, west to Missouri and northward, generally in the wheat grow- 

 ing sections of the northern and western states. This is another weed commonly 

 found in wheat screenings, abundant in the northwest. 



Poisonous properties. In Europe it is the cause of tympanites. Dr. Schaffner, 

 in The Ohio Naturalist, states that caution must be observed in feeding this 

 plant to pigs. It is not injurious to cows. The seeds of this Vetch are often 



