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§1 Plant

Vicia sativa L.

vernacular garden vetch — species · Fabaceae

USDA
VISA
GBIF
2975014
Rank
species
garden vetch (Vicia sativa)
Platephotograph · Alenka MihoricCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb, Vine
Duration
Annual
Group
Dicot
Family
Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus
Vicia
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Introduced
  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Introduced
§2b

County-level range

· 912 counties across 46 states/territories
Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 912 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
Low
Moisture use
High
Fire
None
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Frost-free days
80 min.
pH range
6–7
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Rapid
Mature height
4 ft
Height @ 20 y
5 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Black
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
Low
Toxicity
Slight
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Spring
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
39,600
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
High
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 912 counties across 46 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 14 I ▾
Alaska view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 55 I ▾
California view state ↗ 36 I ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 3 I ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 1 I ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Florida view state ↗ 17 I ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 26 I ▾
Hawaii view state ↗ 2 I ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 8 I ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 15 I ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 2 I ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 5 I ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 26 I ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 59 I ▾
Maine view state ↗ 15 I ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 I ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 19 I ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 16 I ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 50 I ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 17 I ▾
Montana view state ↗ 10 I ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Nevada view state ↗ 1 I ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 8 I ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 15 I ▾
New York view state ↗ 31 I ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 84 I ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 19 I ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 20 I ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 22 I ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 I ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 45 I ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 2 I ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 39 I ▾
Texas view state ↗ 25 I ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 11 I ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 89 I ▾
Washington view state ↗ 21 I ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 12 I ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 47 I ▾
Wyoming view state ↗ 1 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/VISA ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2975014 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z