File:Vicia sativa flower7.jpg

English: Introduced, cool-season, annual legume; stems are slender, branched and climbing. Leaves are pinnate (4-16 leaflets) and end in tendrils. Flowerheads have 1-4 white, pink or purple pea-like flowers on very short stalks. Yellow-brown to blackish bean-like pods grow to 5 cm long. Flowering is in winter and spring. A native of Europe, it is sown and often naturalized along roadsides. Suited to loam soils. Subspecies, nigra has narrow leaflets. Subspecies sativa has broader leaflets. Provides protein and energy in late winter-early spring and is a low bloat risk. Often sown where soil nitrogen is low to reduce nitrogen fertilizer requirements for following crops. Also sown as a high protein feed with winter grass forages. Best sown from mid-March to mid-April. Before sowing, graze pastures early to a residue of 8 cm and then direct drill or broadcast seed. Best if grazed hard using strip grazing from about 14 weeks after sowing as it recovers poorly after grazing. Can be seeded into hill country to improve utilization of low protein forages like blady grass. Use moderate stocking pressures in 3-4 day cycles so as not to rapidly destroy growing points.