Vicia cracca (Tufted Vetch)
Also known as: | Bird Vetch, Cow Vetch |
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Genus: | Vicia |
Family: | Fabaceae (Pea) |
Life cycle: | perennial |
Origin: | Europe, Asia |
Status: |
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Habitat: | part shade, sun; disturbed soil; roadsides, fields, waste areas |
Bloom season: | June - August |
Plant height: | 1 to 3 feet |
Wetland Indicator Status: | none |
MN county distribution (click map to enlarge): | ![]() |
National distribution (click map to enlarge): | ![]() |
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Detailed Information
Flower:
Dense, 1-sided raceme of 10 to 50 elongated pea-shaped flowers. Flowers are about ½ inch long, the upper petal (standard) flaring upward, lateral wings below it oval, extending outward, as long as the standard is high. The standard is typically pink to blue-violet with lighter colored lateral wings though flowers in a cluster may all be the same color.
The calyx holding the flower is hairless to minutely hairy, with 5 prong-like lobes, the upper lobes broadly triangular and shorter than the lower, and all shorter than the calyx tube. Flower stalks are minutely hairy.
Leaves and stems:
Leaves are compound with 5 to 12 pairs of leaflets, and a branched tendril at the end that entwines surrounding vegetation for support. Leaves can be up to 10 inches long and 2 inches wide but 6 inches or less is typical. Leaflets are about ¾ inch long and 1/8 inch wide, linear to oblong, toothless, with a tiny, abrupt point at the tip (mucronate). Both surfaces are covered in short appressed hairs.
At the base of the leaf stalk is a pair of narrow, sharply pointed, leafy appendages (stipules) that are ¼ to 1/3 inch long and short hairy, particularly around the edges. Stems are vining, multi-branched and sprawling, 4-sided with distinct ridges and variously covered in very short hairs.
Fruit: 
Fruit is a flattened pea pod up to 1 inch long, containing 2 to 8 round to oval seeds.
Notes:
Tufted Vetch is most easily confused with Hairy Vetch (Vicia villosa), which has distinctly longer, spreading hairs on stems and stalks where Tufted Vetch is more sparsely and minutely hairy. Tufted Vetch is more common in northern Minnesota and Hairy Vetch is more common in the central and southern counties. Both are weedy.
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More photos
Tufted Vetch plants
Tufted Vetch plants
roadside Tufted Vetch
Tufted Vetch in a field
leaf underside
Photos by K. Chayka taken in Cook County. Photos courtesy Peter M. Dziuk taken in Cook and Kittson counties.
Comments
Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?
on: 2015-06-08 09:16:33
Found alongside a road near where a new culvert was put in last year.
on: 2015-06-12 21:28:19
Along the west fence line at the dog park off of hwy 169
on: 2015-06-25 18:21:04
Around the border (fence) of our new truck terminal, Magnum Cos.
on: 2016-06-17 19:37:25
Found along roadside and fence lines.
on: 2017-07-07 10:15:37
Growing on empty lot along second street south.
on: 2017-07-07 13:56:13
Found in a sunny prairie, just south of Canada, next to the Pigeon River between the Grand Portage falls and Lake Superior. Beautiful!
on: 2019-06-19 11:32:42
This plant is spreading at the Tower Hill Park prairie and the Lone Lake Park rain gardens. It grows over 5 feet tall, but mostly sprawls. Pulled it for a couple hours 6/18; the tap root doesn't come out easily.
on: 2020-06-09 01:20:15
This darn plant came in huge quantities in a contractor's seed mix used around the pickleball courts. What the heck! How is it getting into seed mixes? 55 hours pulling with paid contractors on 6/8/2020. Toil to make restoration specialist weary. Thanks for the great photos for positive ID.
on: 2020-06-09 15:38:12
There was a whole stand of them on the trail around fountain lake so I took a piece home to identify it.