purple vetch
Vicia benghalensis · Fabaceae
purple vetch (Vicia benghalensis) is a annual herbaceous plant in the Fabaceae family. It is introduced to North America rather than native.
At a glance
| Type | forb-herb USDA |
|---|---|
| Lifecycle | annual USDA |
| Native status | introduced USDA |
| Mature height | 1 ft USDA |
| Light | full-sun USDA |
| Flower color | Purple USDA |
| Guild layer | ground-cover Derived |
USDA quoted from the USDA PLANTS database · Derived computed by a fixed rule from those columns. No value on this page is estimated.
Growing conditions
It needs full sun.
Size and growth
At maturity it reaches about 1 ft, making it a low, mat-forming plant.
Role in a guild
Ground cover. In a layered planting this is the lowest layer — it shades soil, holds moisture, and suppresses weeds. We derive the layer from the plant's growth habit and mature height using a fixed rule, so the same inputs always produce the same layer.
Tags
Related plants
Others in Vicia
- American vetch Vicia americana
- bird vetch Vicia cracca
- large yellow vetch Vicia grandiflora
- smooth yellow vetch Vicia lutea
Where this data comes from
Every value on this page comes from the USDA PLANTS database record for symbol VIBE, or is computed from those values by a fixed rule. Nothing here is estimated or model-generated. Where USDA publishes no value, this page omits the claim rather than filling the gap.
duration— quoted from USDA PLANTSflower_color— quoted from USDA PLANTSgrowth_habit— quoted from USDA PLANTSguild_role— derived by rule from USDA columnsmature_height_ft— quoted from USDA PLANTSnative_status— quoted from USDA PLANTSnitrogen_fixer— quoted from USDA PLANTSpet_safe— quoted from USDA PLANTSshade_tolerance— quoted from USDA PLANTS
Read our full data sources and methodology.
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