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Project Noah Nature School
Vicia cracca
Cow vetch is similar to a pea in growth habit, sending out noose-like tendrils from the tips of its leaves when it contacts another plant and securely fastens itself. This can cause "strangling" of smaller plants. An individual plant may reach a length (or height) of 2 m and its taproot may extend up to 1 m. The leaves are 3–8 cm long, pinnate, with 8–12 pairs of leaflets, each leaflet 5–10 mm long. The plant is fast-growing and flowers prolifically, sending out one-sided racemes of cascading pea-flower shaped purple to violet flowers from the leaf axil during its late spring to late summer flowering period. It enriches the soil in which it grows by its nitrogen-fixing properties. Cow Vetch is also much appreciated by bees and butterflies as a source of nectar. The plant may also be used to curb erosion.
Near a river
Spotted on May 18, 2013
Submitted on May 25, 2013
