Vicia sativa subsp. sativa

Spring vetch, Spring Vetch

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Spring vetch is a naturalized annual found in northern coastal California, northern California Coast Ranges, central California forests, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, Central Valley, central western California, and southwestern California in roadsides, disturbed areas, grasslands, and open woodland areas at elevations below 1,266 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces pink-purple flowers 18 to 30 millimeters long with distinctive wedge-shaped corollas. Growing with slender climbing or trailing stems, it forms delicate spreading patches in open habitats. Its compound leaves have 4 to 10 millimeter wide leaflets that are wedge-shaped to oblong, typically 2 to 6 times longer than wide. The fruit develops as a brown to black pod containing lens-shaped seeds 6 to 8 millimeters wide.

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

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 1266 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO, NCoRI, CaRF, n SNF, GV, CW (exc SCoRI), SW (exc n ChI, SnGb, SnJt)

California counties: Butte, Orange, Santa Barbara, Humboldt, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Monterey, Amador, El Dorado, Calaveras, Nevada, Lake, Placer, San Joaquin, Sutter, Yolo, San Diego, Yuba, Marin, Kern, Contra Costa, Sacramento, Solano, Alameda, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, Tehama, Shasta, Glenn, Merced, Ventura, Santa Clara, Napa, Stanislaus

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