Commonvetch

Description: Common vetch (Chinese: 救荒野豌豆) is a sprawling annual herb, with hollow, four-sided, hairless to sparsely hairy stems which can reach two meters in maximum length. The leaves are stipulate, alternate and compound, each made up of 3–8 opposite pairs of linear, lance-shaped, oblong, or wedge-shaped, needle-tipped leaflets up to 35mm long. Each compound leaf ends in a branched tendril. The pea-like flowers occur in the leaf axils, solitary or in pairs. The flower corolla is 1–3cm long and bright pink-purple in color, more rarely whitish or yellow. The flowers are mostly visited by bumblebees. The fruit is a legume pod up to 6 or 7 centimeters long, which is hairy when new, smooth later, then brown or black when ripe. It contains 4–12 seeds.

Locations in Campus: Picture taken at Clio Hall.

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