Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Vicia sativa L. subsp. nigra (L.) Ehrh.

Synonyms

Vicia angustifolia L.
Vicia sativa L. subsp. angustifolia (L.) Gaudich.
Vicia sativa L. var. angustifolia (L.) Ser.
Vicia sativa L. var. nigra L.

Family

Fabaceae (Queensland, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory)
Fabaceae: sub-family Faboideae (New South Wales)
Leguminosae (South Australia)
Papilionaceae (Western Australia)

Common Names

black-pod vetch, blackpod vetch, common vetch, garden vetch, narrow leaved vetch, narrow-leaf vetch, narrowleaf vetch, narrow-leaved vetch, purple vetch, slender vetch, spring vetch, tare, vetch

Origin

Native to northern and eastern Africa, Europe, the Arabian Peninsula, western Asia, Russia, Mongolia, China and the Indian Sub-continent.

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in southern and eastern Australia (i.e. in south-eastern Queensland, eastern New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, south-eastern South Australia and the south-western and southern parts of Western Australia). It is occasionally also naturalised in central Queensland and inland parts of New South Wales, and has been recorded on both Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island.

Also widely naturalised in other parts of the world, including large parts of North America (i.e. Alaska, Canada and the USA), south-eastern Asia, the Mascarenes (i.e. Mauritius, La Reunion and Rodriguez), New Zealand and Hawaii.

Notes

Narrow-leaved vetch (Vicia sativa subsp. nigra) is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria and Western Australia.