Vicia tetrasperma (L.) Schreb.

Lentil Vetch; Slender Vetch; Four Seed Vetch

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Annual

Vascular

Sparrow Vetch is an introduced spring annual in the Bean family (Fabaceae). It is native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. In Alabama, it can be found statewide. Sparrow Vetch grows on roadsides, in lawns, in fields, and in pastures. It is an annual with a tap root. Stems are branched from near the base. The stems climb by way of tendrils. The stems are green in color and glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Leaves are alternate, pinnately compound with 4-10 leaflets, and glabrous. The leaflets are linear to oblong in outline with entire margins. The leaf terminates in a forked tendril. Flowers are produced in axillary racemes of 1-5 flowers. The flowers are papilionaceous, long pedicillate, and pale blue to white in color with the veins a darker blue color. The fruit is a flattened 4-5 seeded glabrous legume. This species is similar to, and sometimes confused with Tiny Vetch (Vicia hirsuta (Linnaeus) S.F. Gray). Tiny Vetch has 10-16 leaflets per leaf, 3-8 white flowers per raceme, 2 seed per legume, and the legume is pubescent. Like many other members of the Bean family, Sparrow Vetch has a symbiotic relationship with nodule forming bacteria on its roots that fix atmospheric nitrogen into a form that is used by the plant. Vetches are often planted as a green manure for this reason.--A. Diamond

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Not Native

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