Vicia cracca
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Photo courtesy Renee Brecht |
Britton & Brown Line Drawing |
| Botanical name: | Vicia cracca |
| Common name: | bird vetch, cow vetch |
| Group: | dicot |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Growth type: | forb/herb, vine |
| Duration: | perennial |
| Origin: | introduced |
| Plant height: | creeping, 12-40" |
| Foliage: | plants trailing or climbing, 2-3', hairy, pressed closely to stem; toothless leaflets, 10-24; stipules entire |
| Flower: | violet-blue, 1/2" long, dense one sided racemes |
| Flowering time: | late spring and summer |
| Habitat: | weed of waste ground and roadsides |
| Range in New Jersey: | statewide |
| Heritage ranking, if any: | n/a |
| Distribution: |  |
| Misc. | Planted extensively on highway banks for erosion control. It is good forage for deer in the winter, and ground cover for ground-nesting birds. Rabbits use it for food and cover. Plant often becomes weedy and invasive, displacing native vegetation. |