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Vicia tenuifolia

Roth (1788)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Rosids Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Genus: Vicia

Bird vetch

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Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Climbing perennial herbs up to 20 dm long, sparsely appressed pubescent.

Stems:

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves compound. Alternate. Leaflets 10–26, linear to linear–oblong,10–30(–40) mm long, 2–6 mm wide. Apex obtuse and mucronate. Base cuneate. Surfaces sparsely appressed pubescent. Margins entire. Short-petiolate. Stipules semisagittate, 6–12 mm long, 3–4 mm wide.

Flowers: Flowers 15–30 in dense racemes, in axillary racemes. Flowers papilionaceous; bracts minute, caducous, bracteoles absent. Calyx 5-lobed, tinged lilac, slightly gibbous at base, sparsely appressed pubescent to glabrate, the upper and lateral teeth subulate–deltate, 0.8–1.5 mm long, the lowest tooth 1.5–2.5 mm long. Corolla pale lilac to bluish lilac, 12–18 mm long, standard with a broad claw, wing petals obliquely oblong, keel petals shorter than wings, obtuse. Stamens 10, Upper stamen distinct or adhering with others, the remaining 9 connate into a tube. Ovary superior; styles laterally flattened, the upper part surrounded by short hairs.

Fruit: Pods brown; obliquely oblong–ellipsoid; 20–35 mm long; 5–8 mm wide; short–stipitate; laterally compressed; dehiscent; not septate. Seeds 4–8; 2.5–4 mm in diameter; hilum extending 1/5–1/4 of the circumference.

Ploidy: 2n = 12; 14; 24

Habitat: Pastures in mesic or occasionally dry areas.

Elevation Range: 1,080–1,710 m.

Historical Distribution

Images

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Uses and Culture

USES

  • Yes

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

Maui Naturalized
Hawai'i Naturalized

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Specimens

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Notes

  • 1,080-1,710 m, on Maui and Hawai?i
  • Description digitized by Ikaika Mendez
  • Description digitized from the Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii
  • First collected on Hawai'i in 1975
  • Native to Europe, introduced as a fodder plant and soil improve

Bibliography

Name Published In: Tent. Fl. Germ. 1: 309 (1788)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:717 (M, H)

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Description Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Vicia tenuifolia along jeep road to Puu Laau near its junction with the Saddle Road Preserved_Specimen Vine with red-violet flowers Herbst, D.R. 5324 Hawaii BISH 1975-05-21
2 Vicia tenuifolia East Maui, N of Pulehu Gulch, Upper Kula Road, near junction with Haleakala highway Preserved_Specimen Prostrate, flowers maroon outside, purple within. Fosberg, F.R. 55455 Maui BISH 1974-04-15
3 Vicia tenuifolia East Maui, Olinda, pasture below Olinda prison Preserved_Specimen forming a dense mat over grass, Flowers many, very showy and visible from several hundred feet away. Pods about 3 cm long by 1 cm wide, glabrous. Hobdy, R.W. 2411 Maui BISH 1985-06-16
4 Vicia tenuifolia Near Puu Laau, off Saddle Road Preserved_Specimen Vine. Fls. pale purple, almost white to dark purple McDonald, M. Hawaii BISH 1979-04-22
5 Vicia tenuifolia About 100 yards in from Saddle Road junction from hunter check station on new access road to Puu Laau cabin Preserved_Specimen Scowcroft, P. Hawaii BISH 1979-05-22
6 Vicia tenuifolia Pohakuloa Training Area Frequent in grasslands. Growing with Dodonaea, Myoporum, Tagetes, Sida, Lepidium, Helichrysum, Pennisetum setaceum, Eragrostis atropioides. Preserved_Specimen Vine. Flowers purple. Davis, J. 287 Hawaii BISH 1980-06-07
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