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Vicia
See list of 10 species in this genusSteele and Wojciechowski (2003) found Vicia to be paraphyletic in regard to closely related genera (e.g., Lathyrus, Lens, Pisum). Further work may show that Vicia needs to be combined or dismantled in order that monophyletic taxa be recognized.
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1a. Flowers solitary or in inflorescences of 2–50, in either case borne on a long peduncle 1–10.5 cm long [Fig. 656]; style pubescent all around the tip or glabrous in V. hirsuta
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2a. Corollas 2.5–7 (–8) mm long, white to light purple; flowers solitary or in racemes of 2–5 (–7); legume 6–13 mm long
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3a. Legumes hirsute, with (1–) 2 (–3) seeds, obliquely tapering from the sutures and pointed at the tip; lobes of the calyx ± equal length; leaves with (8–) 10–16 leaflets
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3b. Legumes glabrous, with usually 4 seeds, equally rounded from the sutures and blunt at the tip; lobes of the calyx distinctly unequal in length; leaves with 4–10 (–12) leaflets
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2b. Corollas (9–) 10–13 (–18) mm long, blue, white and blue, or rarely entirely white; flowers in racemes of 10–50 [Fig. 656]; legume 15–40 mm long
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4a. Plants perennial; calyx not gibbous or saccate on the upper side, the pedicel appearing to attach to the basal part of the flower; upper calyx lobes broad-triangular; corolla 8–13(–18) mm long; limb of the banner petal ± as long as the claw
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4b. Plants annual or biennial; calyx gibbous or saccate on the upper side, the pedicel appearing to attach to the underside of the flower; upper calyx lobes lanceolate to linear-triangular; corolla 12–20 mm long; limb of the banner petal ca. half as long as the claw
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1b. Flowers solitary or paired (with up to 7 flowers in V. sepium), sessile or borne on a peduncle up to 1 cm long, borne in the axils of leaves [Fig. 657]; style pubescent on the abaxial (i.e., outer or lower) surface near the apex
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5a. Terminal leaflet absent, not modified into a tendril; legumes 5–20 (–30) cm long; leaflets 5–10 cm long
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5b. Terminal leaflet of at least the upper leaves modified into a tendril; legume 1.5–6 cm long; leaflets 0.8–3 (–3.5) cm long
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6a. Calyx 3.5–4.5 mm long; corollas 5–6 mm long; tendrils unbranched (sometimes absent on some leaves); legumes 15–25 (–30) ×3–4 mm
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6b. Calyx 4–13 mm long; corollas 10–30 mm long; tendrils generally branched [Fig. 657]; legumes 20–45 ×3.5–11 mm
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7a. Banner petal pubescent on abaxial (i.e., outer) surface; stipules entire
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7b. Banner petal glabrous on abaxial surface; stipules entire, lobed, or toothed
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8a. Corollas yellow, commonly with purple streaks, drying drab light purple, 25–30 (–35) mm long; legumes pubescent
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8b. Corollas light purple to white, 10–25 (–30) mm long; legumes glabrous or pubescent
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9a. Calyx actinomorphic or nearly so, the lower lobes scarcely longer than the upper lobes; peduncle and inflorescence axis undeveloped, the inflorescence with 1 or 2 (–3) flowers [Fig. 657]; legumes sessile; plants annual
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9b. Calyx zygomorphic, the lower lobes distinctly longer than the upper lobes; inflorescence subsessile or shortly peduncled, the axis somewhat developed and up to 10 mm long, with 2–7 contiguous flowers; legumes on a stipe ca. 1.5 mm long; plants perennial from rhizomes
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Each photo represents one species in this genus.