Crown Vetch (Coronilla varia): pink Minnesota wildflowers

Crown Vetch

Plant Info
Also known as:	Purple Crownvetch
Scientific name:	Coronilla varia
Family:	Pea (Fabaceae)
Life cycle:	perennial
Origin:	Eurasia, N Africa
Habitat:	sun or part shade; fields, along roads
Bloom season:	summer
Plant height:	1 to 2 feet
USDA PLANTS database:	Minnesota county distribution map
Spotted in Ramsey County at:	Battle Creek Regional Park Long Lake Regional Park Rice Creek Trail Corridor Vadnais/Snail Lake Regional Park

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Flower:: 1-inch round clusters of up to 25 irregular pink flowers. Individual flowers are about ½ inch long and ¼ inch wide, a typical shape for a member of the pea family, with pink upper and pale pink to white lower petals. Each flower head is at the end of a long naked stem attached at a leaf axil.
Leaves:: Leaves are 2 to 4 inches long and compound in groups of 12 to 25. Leaflets are up to ¾ inches wide and 1½ inches long, rounded at both ends, often with a small tooth-like point at the tip.
Fruit:: Fruit is a finger-like cluster of thin pods that ripen to a deep reddish brown. Each pod is up to 2 inches long, has a “tail” at the tip, and contains up to 12 seeds.
Notes:: Crown Vetch is a creeping plant that was originally cultivated as a ground cover to prevent erosion. It is a quick spreader and can form large masses. It has become quite invasive, but surprisingly has not yet made the noxious weed list for Minnesota. A patch of it sprouted up in my back yard a few years ago and I'm still trying to get rid of it.