Family |
Fabaceae
Vicia palaestina
Boiss.
Vicia palaestina Boiss.
First published in Diagn. Pl. Orient. 9: 116 (1849).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 412, Pl. CLXX, 3; 1970)
Description
Life-form & habit: Annual with sparse, appressed bristly hairs. Stems slender, ascending or climbing, 20–60 cm long or more.
Leaves: Leaves with 5–9 pairs of pointed, broadly to narrowly linear leaflets. Stipules half-hastate, the uppermost lanceolate.
Inflorescence & flowers: Flower stalks shorter than the adjacent leaves and without a terminal bristle, bearing 2–5, occasionally 10–12 small flowers. Corolla pale blue-violet, 4–6 mm long. Calyx about one-third as long as the corolla, with an oblique mouth; its lower teeth equal the tube.
Fruit: Hairless, stalked, flattened, oblong pod, somewhat constricted between its 2–4 seeds. Seeds black and slightly flattened.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: March–May.
Habitat & elevation: Grassy places and hedges.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Beirut, Antelias, Nahr el Kelb, Batroun, Tripoli, Abey, Ain Anoub, Aley, Bikfaya, Tourzaya, Ehden forest, Tlail, Qoubbayat–Menges, Neba Fou and Hasbani.
Syrian distribution: Bhamra, Safita–Tell Kalakh, Qalaat el Hosn, Haffe–Slenfe, Chmaisse, Wadi el Qarn, Babeska, Homs, Tell Aqibrin, Qalaat Semaan, Ain Haramiyé, Kafer–Salkhad, Qanaouat, Tell Ahmar, Tell Qouleib and Sahouet el Khodor.
Recorded locations: Kornet Chehwan.
Native range: Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Greece, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Sinai and Türkiye.