Fence vetch

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fence vetch
Fence vetch (Vicia sepium)

Fence vetch ( Vicia sepium )

Systematics
Order : Fabales (Fabales)
Family : Legumes (Fabaceae)
Subfamily : Butterflies (Faboideae)
Tribe : Fabeae
Genre : Sweet peas ( Vicia )
Type : Fence vetch
Scientific name
Vicia sepium
L.

The fence Vetch ( Vicia sepium ) is a species in the subfamily of the Pea family (Faboideae) within the family of legumes (Fabaceae). The fence vetch is a protein-rich forage plant .

description

Appearance and leaf

The fence vetch is a perennial herbaceous plant and has a knotty, long, thin, mostly reddish ground runners drifting base axis. The stem is mostly upright and more or less climbing, about 30 to 50 cm long, simple or only slightly knotty at the base, angular, soft, fresh green, mostly glabrous, more rarely like the leaves are short and softly hairy.

The leaves are about 5 to 10 cm long, all with the exception of the lowest tend to have weakly branched tendrils and four to eight pairs of almost sessile leaflets . The leaflets are more or less broadly elliptical to ovate or almost circular, 7 to 26 mm long and 6 to 12 mm wide, rounded at both ends or slightly margined in front and briefly pointed. Mostly they are only hairy on the edge and underneath, short and soft. They have about 8 to 13 pairs of distinct, straight lateral nerves that branch off at an angle of about 45 degrees.

Fence vetch with extra-floral nectaries under the stipules
blossom
Stamen groove and stylus cut at an angle at the front

The stipules are much smaller than the leaflets, egg-shaped to semi-arrow-shaped, more or less serrated and each with a concave, purple-brown spot ( nectarium ) on the underside .

Inflorescence and flower

The flowers sit in very short, mostly two to four-flowered axillary, somewhat rolled up, racemose inflorescences.

The zygomorphic flowers are about 12 to 15 mm long. The calyx is short-tube and more or less hairy. The lower teeth are subpropate and longer than the short-triangular upper teeth, but mostly shorter than the tube. The bald petals are mostly red-violet to cloudy blue, rarely yellowish-white or pure white. The flag is obovate to weakly edged, red-violet striped and longer than the wings. The wings are much longer than the dark purple boat in front . It blooms in the months of May and June, sometimes even into August.

Fruit and seeds

The legumes are elongated to broadly linear, about 2 to 3.5 cm long and 5 to 8 mm wide, protruding or nodding, slightly compressed, short-haired when young, glabrous when ripe and glossy black in color. They usually contain three to six seeds.

The seeds are spherical, about 3 to 4 mm in size, yellowish, reddish, gray or greenish-brown in color and more or less darkly spotted.

The species has chromosome number 2n = 14.

Vicia sepium f. albiflora ( herbarium evidence ): A form of the fence vetch with low anthocyanins with pure white flowers
Fence vetch ( Vicia sepium )

ecology

The fence vetch is a hemicryptophyte with a ground axis that drives the ground and an upright to climbing stalk, 30 to 50 cm long. The climbing plant has blackish extra-floral nectaries on the underside of the stipules. Nectar production only takes place in warm, humid weather. Ants regularly visit the nectaries, lick up the nectar and in return protect their host plants from predators.

The petals are so firm and thick that only strong bumblebees can open the flowers (power flower). Earth bumblebees act as nectar robbers, they get the nectar by biting open the goblet and crown. Honeybees can then take nectar from these holes .

Occurrence, location claims and socialization

The fence vetch has a Euro-Siberian distribution and was introduced in temperate zones. It is common in Central Europe. In England it is added to the seed mixes for permanent meadows and pastures.

The fence vetch grows in nutrient-rich greasy meadows , in fresh, herb-rich mixed deciduous forests, especially in bushes and forest fringes, on forest paths and forest clearings. It thrives best on soils that are rich in bases and as nitrogen as possible .

In the Allgäu Alps, it rises in Vorarlberg at the summit of the Höferspitze up to 2100 m above sea level.

The fence vetch thrives in Central Europe mainly in societies of the order Arrhenatheretalia, but also occurs in societies of the associations Aegopodion, Alliarion, Trifolion medii or the order Fagetalia.

literature

  • Gustav Hegi, H. Gams, H. Marzell: Illustrated flora of Central Europe. Pteridophyta, Spermatophyta . 2nd Edition. Volume IV. Part 3: Angiospermae: Dicotyledones 2 (5) (Leguminosae - Tropaeolaceae) . Carl Hanser and Paul Parey, Munich and Berlin / Hamburg 1964, ISBN 3-489-70020-1 (unchanged reprint from 1923-1924 with addendum).
  • Konrad von Weihe (ed.): Illustrated flora. Germany and neighboring areas. Vascular cryptogams and flowering plants . Founded by August Garcke. 23rd edition. Paul Parey, Berlin / Hamburg 1972, ISBN 3-489-68034-0 .
  • Oskar Sebald, Siegmund Seybold, Georg Philippi (Hrsg.): The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg . tape 3 : Special part (Spermatophyta, subclass Rosidae): Droseraceae to Fabaceae . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1992, ISBN 3-8001-3314-8 .
  • Wolfgang Adler, Karl Oswald, Raimund Fischer: Excursion flora of Austria . Ed .: Manfred A. Fischer. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart / Vienna 1994, ISBN 3-8001-3461-6 .
  • Christian Heitz: School and excursion flora for Switzerland. Taking into account the border areas. Identification book for wild growing vascular plants . Founded by August Binz. 18th completely revised and expanded edition. Schwabe & Co., Basel 1986, ISBN 3-7965-0832-4 .
  • Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora . With the collaboration of Theo Müller. 6th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1990, ISBN 3-8001-3454-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Stuttgart, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, 2001. Page 612. ISBN 3-8001-3131-5
  2. ↑ The distribution in the northern hemisphere according to Eric Hultén
  3. ↑ Distribution in temperate zones
  4. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 2, IHW, Eching 2004, ISBN 3-930167-61-1 , p. 155.

Web links

Commons : Zaun-Wicke ( Vicia sepium )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files