Βίκος ο εδώδιμος υποείδος ο εδώδιμος
Etymology of Vicia sativa subspecies sativa: The Latin name of the genus, "Vicia", meaning "binder", derives from Proto-Italic "wikia", which in turn originates other from Proto-Indo-European "weyk-", meaning "to curve, bend" or from Proto-Indo-European "wehy- ". The name "binder" alludes to the activity of the tendrils. "Sativa" in Latin means "cultivated", referring to its use in agriculture.
At least 26 Vicia species and subspecies/kinds have so far been identified in the wild Cypriot habitat, of which two of them appear exclusively in occupied northern Cyprus.
A Vicia naturalized in Cyprus but is not invasive. It grows in southern Cyprus and the Kerynia region at an altitude of up to 600 metres.
How to identify Vicia sativa subspecies sativa
- Its inflorescence is sessile or subsessile in the leaf axil, or very shortly pedunculate; the peduncle, (or pedicel) is generally shorter than the calyx and corolla
- Its petals are purple
- It is a plant sprawling or climbing; the stem is slender and weak; the leaflets are narrowly oblong, linear
- The standard is more than 8 mm long; seeds with a smooth, not papillose, testa
- Calyx teeth are narrowly subulate, 3-8 mm long; the stipules are often rather large and toothed or laciniate
- The leaves are 2-10, foliolate; the leaflets are usually with an emarginate apex; the flowers are subsessile or very shortly pedicellate
- It is a plant with aerial stems only, all pods are conspicuously longer
- The corolla is 18-30 mm long; the calyx-teeth are as long as or longer than the tube
Until here, the plant identified is either a Vicia sativa subspecies sativa or a Vicia cordata. The pod and seeds are most likely to distinguish the right species as:
- The pod is 6-8 mm wide, contracted between the seeds; the seeds are 4-5 mm in diameter for Vicia sativa subspecies sativa
- The pod is 4.5-6 mm wide, not contracted between the seeds; the seeds are 3-4.5 mm in diameter for Vicia cordata
