Vicia cassubica

Vicia cassubica, called Kashubian vetch and Danzig vetch, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Vicia. Found in thermophilous oak forests, it also does well in old fields that are in later stages of succession.

Distribution

Despite its binomial and common name suggesting a connection to the Kashubian region of Poland, the plant species is also native to most of Europe, Turkey, North, Northwest and South European Russia, the Levant, the Caucasus and Iran.

Description

Stem

Naked or short-haired, erect or climbing, about 30-60 cm long.

Leaves

Evenly-spaced, composed of 8-12 pairs of elliptic leaflets. Their short and numerous lateral nerves growing at a 45° angle to the main nerve are reticulate. The bracts are entire-edged.

Flowers

Blooms from June to July. Collected in clusters of 5-14 purple-violet butterfly flowers, whose corolla is 12-15 mm long. Their filament is at least as long as a petal. The clusters are shorter than the leaves that grow at an angle.

Fruit

Egg-like pods about 1.5 cm long containing usually 1-2 seeds.