Family |
Fabaceae
Vicia lutea
L.
Vicia lutea L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 736 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, pp. 399–400, under var. hirta, Pl. CLXIII, 5; 1970)
Description
Life-form & habit: Annual, strongly bristly in Mouterde’s regional var. hirta. Stems ascending or sometimes climbing, striated, with spreading hairs, 20–60 cm long or more.
Leaves: Tendril-bearing, with spreading hairs and 5–8 pairs of oblong-linear to linear leaflets, often long and pointed.
Inflorescence & flowers: Flower stalk shorter than the calyx. Calyx nearly hairless, with an oblique mouth and a lower tooth longer than its tube. Corolla about 2 cm or longer, very pale yellow, sometimes white and more rarely pink. Standard narrow and much longer than the keel.
Fruit: Stalked, flattened pod, densely covered with reddish hairs that have conspicuously swollen bases. Seeds spherical, with an oblong hilum opposite the radicle.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: April–May, sometimes later.
Habitat & elevation: Fertile ground and the edges of cultivated land; uncommon in Mouterde’s account.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Beirut, Antelias, Bouchriye, Tripoli, Chtaura and Haouch el Oumara, where pink-flowered plants were recorded.
Syrian distribution: Nahr Sene.
Recorded locations: Kornet Chehwan and Kfertay.
Native range: Albania, Algeria, Baleares, Bulgaria, Canary Is., East Aegean Is., Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe.
Introduced into: Alabama, Azores, Baltic States, Belgium, California, Czechia-Slovakia, Florida, Germany, Great Britain, Krym, Louisiana, New Zealand South, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Ukraine.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
The regional description is Mouterde’s var. hirta, which he contrasts with a less bristly, more strongly coloured typical form. Kew lists V. lutea var. hirta (DC.) Loisel. under subsp. lutea; Mouterde attributes the varietal basionym to Balbis instead. The CMS identification and Kew distribution are retained at species level.