Vicia villosa Roth
fodder vetch
Scrambling perennial; stems ± glabrous or sparsely clothed in appressed hairs. Lvs usually moderately clothed in appressed hairs above and below; tendrils branched at least in upper lvs; leaflets in 5-12 pairs, sometimes alternate, ovate-oblong or narrowly elliptic, (5)-12-20 mm long; stipules entire or with 1-(2), narrow, adaxial, basal lobes. Infl. > lvs, (6)-10-40-flowered. Peduncle much > fls. Pedicel c. 2 mm long. Calyx strongly gibbous at base, ± glabrous or sparsely hairy; calyx teeth very unequal; lower < tube. Corolla violet, purple or bluish lilac, (13)-14-18 mm long; limb of standard 1/2 as long as claw. Pod glabrous, brown, 3-8-seeded, 20-35 mm long; seeds dark greenish brown or mottled, 3-4 mm diam.; hilum 1/9-⅙ of circumference.
N.: collected once from Tauwharenikau R. Valley (Wellington Province); S.: well-established between Spotswood and Cheviot, near Spye, Motunau and Greta Valley (N. Canterbury).
S. and C. Europe, Asia Minor, N. Africa 1957
Waste places.
FL Nov-Mar.
All N.Z. naturalised material of fodder vetch can be referred to V. villosa subsp. varia (Host) Corbière, distinguished from the type subsp. by the non-villous stems, and lower calyx teeth < tube. In N.Z. this plant has been confused with V. cracca from which it can be distinguished by the longer corolla and strongly gibbous calyx base (Fig. 69) as well as the much shorter hilum of the seed. The sp. has been previously known in N.Z. as V. dasycarpa.
