Vicia lutea L.
yellow vetch
Tufted or scrambling, prostrate annual; stem ± glabrous. Lvs sparsely hairy; tendrils simple or branched; leaflets in (3)-4-7-(8) pairs, sometimes alternate, elliptic-oblong, 3-20 mm long; stipules entire or with 1-3, adaxial, basal lobes. Infl. much < lvs, 1-(2)-flowered. Peduncle much < fls. Pedicel 1-2 mm long. Calyx somewhat gibbous at base; calyx teeth unequal; lower teeth ± = tube; upper teeth much < tube. Corolla pale yellow, sometimes tinged purple, 15-30 mm long; limb of standard ± = claw. Pod moderately hairy, brown to black, 3-6-seeded, 25-40 mm long; seeds light brown with dark brown and black blotches; hilum ?-1/4 of circumference.
S.: established at several localities on Banks Peninsula only.
S. and W. Europe to Caucasia, N. Africa 1904
Waste places, grassland.
FL Nov-Dec.
Yellow vetch is very similar to V. sativa but differs in having a yellow corolla and unequal calyx teeth. The hilum may be up to 1/2 the seed circumference in some forms of this sp. but appears to be consistently shorter in N.Z. naturalised material.
