Winter Vetch

Description:

Known as the hairy vetch, fodder vetch or winter vetch, is a plant native to Europe and western Asia. It is a legume, grown as a forage crop. This plant is a winter annual and grows from two to four feet high, winding and trailing in all directions like Common Vetch, from which plant it is easily distinguished, even if no flowers are developed, by its hairiness, the whole plant being covered with long, soft, spreading hairs which often give it a white-woolly appearance. The leaves are compound, like those of Common Vetch, but the leaflets gradually taper towards the apex and the tendrils are more branched. The flowers are in rich, long-stalked clusters, smaller than those of Common Vetch and purple to pale blue in color.

Habitat:

Locally abundant on roadsides, fields, urban waste areas below 4000'.

Notes:

Hairy vetch is widely used by organic growers in the United States as a winter cover crop, as it is both winter hardy and can fix as much as 200 lb/acre of atmospheric nitrogen. Disadvantages of hairy vetch in production agriculture are related to the crop having a portion of hard seed and its tendency to shatter seed early in the season - leading to it remaining in the field as a weed later in the season. This can be a particular problem in wheat production. Native American would squeeze the juice from the stems to treat boils.