Vicia disperma DC.
small French tare
Scrambling annual; stem ± glabrous. Lvs sparsely to moderately hairy; tendrils branched at least in upper lvs; leaflets in 5-10 pairs, often alternate, linear to narrowly elliptic-oblong, 5-17 mm long; stipules entire or with 1, adaxial, basal lobe. Infl. = or < lvs, 2-6-flowered. Peduncle much > fls. Pedicel 0.5-2 mm long. Calyx slender at base; calyx teeth unequal; lower teeth slightly > tube; upper teeth much < tube. Corolla mauve, 5-6 mm long; limb of standard ± = claw. Pod ± glabrous, brown, usually 2-seeded, 15-22 mm long; seeds smooth or tuberculate, dark brown with reddish brown blotches or dark reddish brown; hilum 1/10-1/7 of circumference.
N.: vicinity of Auckland City, Tauranga, Wellington City, Palmerston North, and coastal S.W. Wellington Province.
S.W. Europe, N. Africa 1883
Waste places, grassland.
FL Nov-Feb.
V. disperma is distinguished from the much more widespread V. hirsuta by the glabrous pods, unequal calyx teeth and longer corolla. Early collections of this sp. were mistakenly recorded as Lens esculenta.
