Vicia sativa seed
LATIN NAME: Vicia sativa
COMMON NAME: Common Vetch
The common vetch trails the soft, feathery leaves and the purple flowers over the open ground, the slender tendrils reaching for the neighbours, and the whole plant carries the fine, generous look of the field edge. The scrambling, annual herb carries the pinnate leaves with the many narrow leaflets and the slender, curling tendrils, and the small, pea-like, purple or violet flowers, singly or in the little pairs, in the leaf axils through the late spring, one of the quiet, generous sights of the field edge, drawing the bees, to be followed by the narrow, flattened, brown pods with the round, mottled seeds. The soft, green growth has a very long record as the fodder and the green manure of the old fields, and the plant is a historic presence of the field edge. It is a plant of the open, sunny, light, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The common vetch is a historic subject of the plant science, and the mottled seeds keep showing up in the work on the fodder legumes. The way the narrow, flattened, brown pods with the round, mottled seeds form in the leaf axils has been studied closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the fodder legumes, the pinnate leaves and the members of the pea family. The soft growth and the quick habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the common vetch is a regular subject of the work on the mottled seeds of the cool world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The common vetch is a generous, useful plant of the field edge and the study collection. The pinnate leaves with the many narrow leaflets and the slender, curling tendrils carry the soft look of the field edge, one of the quiet, generous sights of the field edge, drawing the bees, and the soft, green growth has a very long record as the fodder and the green manure of the old fields, the fine, leafy fodder coming to the herds and the steady green cover of the old fields, while the small, pea-like, purple or violet flowers open through the late spring, to be followed by the narrow, flattened, brown pods with the round, mottled seeds. It is one of the fine choices for the field edge, the green-manure bed and the study collection, and it has been written about in the agricultural and the botanical papers for the soft growth and the very long history. It is a generous, useful plant of the open, sunny, light, well-drained garden.
The vetch seeds germinate quickly in a rich, sandy mix kept moist. The young plants are fast and easy, and they thrive in the light, well-drained ground of the open garden, the purple flowers opening through the late spring.
To grow the common vetch from seed, sow the round, mottled seeds singly in the deep tray of rich, sandy soil, a centimetre down, and keep it moist, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings appear within a couple of weeks and grow on fast. With the sun and the light, well-drained ground, the purple flowers will open over the late spring.