Online Virtual Flora of Wisconsin

Vicia caroliniana Walter

Family: Fabaceae

Carolina vetch, pale vetch, wood vetch

[Vicia hugeri Small]

Emmet J. Judziewicz

Merel R. Black

University of Wisconsin - Madison (WIS-VP)

Open Interactive Map

Etymology: Vicia: the classical Latin name for this genus
Plants: climbing or trailing, perennial, up to 3' long forb
Leaves: pinnately-divided into 5-10 pairs of elliptical leaflets, leaf tips with tendrils
Flowers: white to blue, 5-parted, 1/3"-1/2" long, calyx base mostly not swollen; inflorescence a loose, stalked cluster (raceme) with 7-20 stalked flowers; blooms May-June
Fruits: pod
Habitat: moist; woods, thickets
Conservation Status: Native

Forests of maple-basswood, oak, oak-red cedar-hickory, beech, oak-hickory, red maple-birch-pine; dry open hillsides, thickets, along roadsides and railroad tracks, oak savannas, wooded bluffs, fields, sandy prairies, oak openings, meadows. Our other native species, this one being much less common and not collected much in recent years; many of our specimens lack adequate habitat data. It seems likely that this species has declined since it seems to favor dappled sunlight in open woodlands, a landscape feature that has disappeared in many areas. It is also most abundant on sites with less intense grazing history. Mostly confined to the south-central and eastern parts of the state. The white flowers are usually tipped with blue.