Vicia sativa L., 1753

Common names

• 🇬🇧 Narrowleaf Vetch
• 🇫🇷 Vesce cultivée, Poisette

Taxonomy

• Kingdom: Plantae
• Clade: Tracheophytes
• Clade: Angiosperms
• Clade: Eudicots
• Clade: Superrosids
• Clade: Rosids
• Clade: Fabids
• Order: Fabales
• Family: Fabaceae
• Subfamily: Faboideae
• Genus: Vicia
• Species: Vicia sativa

Presence

Introduced, not established.

Conservation status

• Red List (Metropolitan France): NA Not Applicable
• Red List (Europe): LC Least Concern

Notes

The following infraspecific taxa are accepted:

• V. sativa subsp. incisa (M.Bieb.) Arcang., 1882;
• V. sativa subsp. sativa L., 1753, M.

V. sativa, along with other species of the genus Vicia, produces extrafloral nectar that attracts ants. In return, the ants protect the plant from herbivorous insects (Jones et al., 2016).

Photographs

Sources

• Jones, I. M., Koptur, S., & von Wettberg, E. J. (2016). The use of extrafloral nectar in pest management: Overcoming context dependence. Journal of Applied Ecology, 54(2), 489-499. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12778

• Osborne, J. (2011). Vicia sativa (Europe assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2011. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/176097/7176357

• Tison, J.M., & de Foucault, B. (2014). Flora Gallica : Flore de France (p. 764). Biotope.