Common Vetch

Vicia sativa L.
Common vetch is a cool season, winter annual legume that is often used as a green manure crop or in pasture mixes. It is sometimes referred to as garden vetch. It has a taproot that can grow 100 to 175 cm (39 to 70 in.) deep, and prolific smaller roots in the upper 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 in.) of the soil.
Common vetch produces a slender vine that grows along the ground from 60 to 180 cm (24 to 71 in.) in length. The leaves terminate in tendrils that can attach and climb up the stems of other grasses or crops in the mix. The leaves are very similar to hairy vetch with 4 to 10 leaflets, but the leaves are slightly larger and have a more distinct terminal point.
Common vetch can be identified by its unique inflorescence, which is unusual for forage plants. Flowers are larger than hairy vetch and develop where leaf axis joins the stem. Flowers are pinkish purple. Seeds pods are grown to gray, flat, elongated and have 8 to 10 seeds inside that are orange to cream in colour and oval to wedge shaped.