Vicia sativa subsp. nigra

Narrow-leaved vetch, Narrow-Leaved Vetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Narrow-leaved vetch is a naturalized annual found in coastal and central California regions, including the North Coast, Sacramento Valley, Central Western California, Southern California, and Channel Islands in grasslands, roadsides, and open woodland areas at elevations below 1,608 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces pink-purple to white flowers 10 to 18 millimeters long with distinctive calyx tubes. Growing with slender, spreading stems, it forms delicate patches in disturbed landscapes. Its compound leaves feature 5 to 7 millimeter wide leaflets that are linear to lance-oblong, typically 4 to 10 times longer than their width. The plant produces small black fruits containing spherical seeds 2.5 to 4 millimeters wide.

Habitat: Roadsides, disturbed areas, grassland, open areas in oak woodland, riparian woodland

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 1608 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO, NCoRI, n&ampc SNF, GV, CW (exc SCoRI), SCo, ChI, PR

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

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