Relatives

Vicia tenuifolia Roth. - Brambled vetch.

Taxonomic position.

Family Leguminosae Endl., genus Vicia L

Synonyms.

Vicia brachytropis Kar. et Kir., Vicia cracca subsp. tenuifolia (Roth.)Gaud.

Biology and morphology.

Perennial herb. Stems almost upright, 50-70 cm high, well-branched, numerous, rigid, slightly pubescent. Leaves compound pinnate with 8-12 pairs of opposite leaflets. Leaf axis is ended by the branched tendril. Leaflets 2,5-3,0 cm length, 2-3 mm width, lanceolate in form, covered by hairs at both sides, greenish-gray in colour. Racemes are laxiflorous with 15-20 flowers. Flowers 14-15 mm long, pale blue or violet. Pods 20-30 mm long, 5-7 width, elongated., seeds brown in colour, almost globular. Self-incompatible plant, cross-pollinated mainly by bees. Blossoms June-July, seeds ripening July-August. 2n = 24.

Distribution.

The European part of former USSR, Crimea, Caucasus, Siberia; Kazakhstan and Central Asia (except deserts).

Ecology.

Occurs at open dry slopes, meadows, in bushes, along wood edges, rivers and roads (especially railway roads), in mountains up to middle zone.

Utilisation and economic value.

Most perspective forage plant in Vicea genera for introduction in culture because of high productivity, palatability and upright type growth. Can by used as perennial component for long-term artificial pasture establishment.

Literature:

Brezhnev D. D., Korovina O. N. 1980. Wild relatives of the cultivated plants of flora of the USSR. - L.: Kolos, 376 pp. (in Russian).
Field Guide of Plants of Central Asia. 1981. Kamelin R. V., Kovalevskaya S. S., Nabiev M. M. (ed.). - Tashkent: FAN, Vol. VI1, - 396 p. (in Russian).
Flora of cultivated plants. Vicia. 1999. Repjev S. I. (ed.). - SPb.: VIR, Vol. IV, part 2 - 492 pp. (in Russin).
Flora of Kazakhstan. 1961. Pavlov N. B. (ed.). - Alma - Ata: AN KazSSR, Vol. V. - 515 pp. (in Russian).
Flora of Siberia. 1994. Polozhiy A.B., Malyshev L.I., (ed.). - Novosibirsk: Nauka, Vol. 9. - 280 pp. (in Russian).
Flora of the USSR. Genus Vicia. 1948. Schischkin V.K., E.G. Bobrov (ed.). M.-L.: AN USSR , Vol. XIII, p. 406 - 475. (in Russian).
Flora of Central Siberia. 1979. Malyshev L.I., Peshkova G. A. (ed.). Novosibirsk: Nauka, Vol. II, 506 pp. (in Russian).
Flora of Tadzhikistan. 1978. Ovchinnikov P. N. (ed.). - L.: Nauka, Vol. V. - 678 pp. (in Russian).
Grossheim A. A. 1952. Genus Vicia. Flora of the Caucasus. - M. - L.: Academy of Science of the USSR, Vol. V. - p. 380 - 398. (in Russian).
Hulten, Eric and Magnus Fries. 1986. Atlas of north European vascular plants north of the Tropic of Cancer.

© Dzyubenko N. I., Dzyubenko E. A.