Broad-pod vetch
Vicia peregrina
Synonyms: Vicia peregrina subvar. albiflora, Vicia peregrina var. pallidiflora, Vicia sativa var. peregrina
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Botanical Description
Vicia peregrina, commonly known as wandering vetch or rambling vetch, is a slender annual herbaceous legume in the family Fabaceae native to the Mediterranean basin, southern and central Europe, North Africa and western Asia from Portugal east to Iran and Central Asia, where it occurs as a weed of cereal fields, fallows, roadsides and stony slopes. The plant grows 20 to 60 centimetres long, with weak, climbing or scrambling, angular and softly pubescent stems supported by branched leaf tendrils on adjacent vegetation. The pinnately compound leaves bear four to eight pairs of narrow linear to oblong-cuneate leaflets 10 to 25 millimetres long, often notched or three-toothed at the apex, and terminate in a slender three-branched tendril. Flowers are solitary or paired in the leaf axils on very short peduncles and are small papilionaceous blooms 8 to 14 millimetres long with pale lilac to purplish standards and darker keels. The fruit is a flat, oblong, hairless to sparsely hairy legume 25 to 45 millimetres long and 5 to 8 millimetres wide containing four to seven small spherical seeds 3 to 4 millimetres in diameter.
Cultural & Historical Context
Traditional American Uses
None Documented
Chemistry & External Identifiers
Important Disclaimer
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.