Vicia lutea

Yellow vetch, Yellow Vetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Yellow vetch is a naturalized annual found in northern California coastal regions including San Francisco Bay Area in roadsides and disturbed areas at elevations below 732 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces yellow flowers often tinged with purple, typically 20 to 30 millimeters long. Growing with ascending or climbing stems 20 to 60 centimeters tall, it spreads with a glabrous or sparsely hairy habit. Its compound leaves have 8 to 16 leaflets, each 10 to 20 millimeters long, with oblong or linear shapes and rounded tips. The fruit is an elliptic-oblong pod 2.5 to 3.5 centimeters long with distinctive hairs emerging from conspicuous tubercles.

Habitat: Roadsides, disturbed areas

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 732 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO, NCoRI, SnFrB

California counties: Sonoma, Marin, Santa Cruz, Yolo, San Luis Obispo, Mendocino, Alameda, Placer, Napa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.