Vicia amphicarpa

Subterranean Vetch

Pictures of Vicia amphicarpa (Subterranean Vetch)

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Common name

Subterranean Vetch.

Scientific name

Vicia amphicarpa Dorth.

Conservation status and threats

The species is listed in the Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria to the category "Endangered"^[1].

Description and identification

Annual. Forms underground shoots with cleistogamous flowers. Stems 20–80 cm. Leaves pinnate, with 3–4 pairs of linear-cuneate leaflets. Calyx teeth shorter than the tube. Standard purple violet. Legume 3–3.5 cm long, 4–5 mm wide, smooth, almost glabrous, dark brown, with 8–10 seeds. Seeds 3.8–4 mm long, 4.5–5 mm wide. Fl. V–VI, fr. VII– VIII. Insect or self-pollinated. Reproduction by seeds^[2].

Habitats

Grows in dry, calcareous grasslands, among shrubs of Paliurus spina-christi and others, in the xerothermic oak forests up to the beech belts^[3].

Distribution in Bulgaria

Slavyanka Mt (Stargach massif, above Ilinden village, Gotse Delchev region), Pirin Mts (Southern – Melnik), Rila Mts (in the vicinity of Rila Monastery), Thracian Lowland (Isperihovo village, Pazardzhik district); from 100 up to 1200 m alt.^[4].

General distribution

Southern Europe, Mediterranean area, SW Asia, Crimea^[5].

Sources

[1] Dimitar Dimitrov, 2015 in: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria.

[2] Dimitar Dimitrov, 2015 in: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria.

[3] Dimitar Dimitrov, 2015 in: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria.

[4] Dimitar Dimitrov, 2015 in: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria.

[5] Dimitar Dimitrov, 2015 in: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Vicia amphicarpa на български

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