Family: Fabaceae
American vetch
[Vicia americana var. truncata Muhl. ex Willd.]
Robert Bierman
Stephen L. Solheim
University of Wisconsin - Madison (WIS-VP)
Etymology: Vicia: the classical Latin name for this genus
Plants: climbing or trailing, perennial, up to 3' long forb
Leaves: pinnately-divided into 4-8 pairs of elliptical leaflets, leaf tips with tendrils
Flowers: purple to blue, 5-parted, 1/2"-1" long, style tip hairy all around, calyx base mostly not swollen; inflorescence a loose, stalked cluster (raceme) with 2-9, stalked flowers; blooms June-Aug.
Fruits: pod
Habitat: moist; woods, meadows
Conservation Status: Native
Plants: climbing or trailing, perennial, up to 3' long forb
Leaves: pinnately-divided into 4-8 pairs of elliptical leaflets, leaf tips with tendrils
Flowers: purple to blue, 5-parted, 1/2"-1" long, style tip hairy all around, calyx base mostly not swollen; inflorescence a loose, stalked cluster (raceme) with 2-9, stalked flowers; blooms June-Aug.
Fruits: pod
Habitat: moist; woods, meadows
Conservation Status: Native
Upland forests of maple-basswood, oak-pine, oak-hickory, aspen-birch, beech-maple, and sometimes in lowland forests of silver maple-ash; also in thickets and fields, on riverbanks, in degraded prairies, along roadsides and railroads and on open clifftops or rock outcrops. One of only two species of native Vicia and found throughout the state but rare or absent in the Northern Highlands.
Floristic Rating: Coefficient of Conservatism = 4, Wetland Indicator = NI Atlas of the Wisconsin Prairie and Savanna Flora: by T.S. Cochrane & H.H. Iltis: habitat, distribution infomation / flowering and fruiting times USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos
Stephen L. Solheim
Emmet J. Judziewicz
Emmet J. Judziewicz
Botanical Illustration
