Vicia sativa

Spring vetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Spring vetch is a naturalized annual herb found in disturbed areas and agricultural landscapes. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces small purple to pink flowers clustered in groups of 1 to 3 on short stalks. Growing with decumbent to ascending stems 10 to 60 centimeters long, it forms a sprawling or slightly climbing habit. Its compound leaves feature 8 to 14 leaflets, each 15 to 35 millimeters long with acute or notched tips, often accompanied by toothed leaf stipules. The plant produces elongated seed pods 2.5 to 6 centimeters long that are initially hairy but become smooth as they mature.

California counties: San Diego, Orange, San Luis Obispo, Alameda, Santa Barbara, Humboldt, Sonoma, Butte, Sutter, Santa Cruz, Napa, San Joaquin, Marin, Santa Clara, Mendocino, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Mateo, San Francisco, San Bernardino, Riverside, Tulare, Del Norte, Fresno, Solano, Monterey, El Dorado, Contra Costa, Placer, Amador, Shasta, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Sacramento, Yolo, Yuba, Lake

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