Tiny vetch, also called hairy tare, is a small climbing weed from Europe and western Asia that now turns up along roadsides and in old fields in many US states. Its pale bluish-white flowers are only about 1/8 in (3–4 mm) long, and each small, hairy pod holds just two seeds.
Appearance
- Growth form
- An annual that climbs with forked , with slender, often four-sided stems usually about 20–35 in (50–90 cm) long. The stems are only sparsely hairy.
- Leaves
- Feather-like leaves with several pairs (often 6–8) of narrow leaflets, each up to about 3/4 in (2 cm) long and often notched at the tip, ending in a branched tendril.
- Flowers
- Two to six (up to eight) tiny whitish to pale blue flowers in a short cluster from the leaf joints.
- Flowering time
- Spring, roughly April to June.
- Fruit
- A flat, hairy pod about 1/4–3/8 in (6–11 mm) long that turns from green to dark brown-black, usually with two seeds. Fruits ripen roughly May to July.
Look-alikes
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Roadsides
- Abandoned fields
- Open disturbed ground
- Range
- Native to Europe and western Asia and introduced to the US, where it is established mainly in coastal areas of roughly two dozen states, from New England to Florida and Texas and on the West Coast in California, Oregon, and Washington.
- Preferred conditions
- Open, sunny sites, especially with moist soil.
- Flowering
Flowers Apr–Jun
Flowers Apr–Jun · Fruit May–Jul
Life cycle
- Seed dispersal
- Ripe pods twist open and fling out the seeds.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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