Securigera varia, commonly known as
Crown Vetch or
Purple Crown Vetch, is a low-growing
legumeIn botanical writing legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A'legume' fruit is a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces on two sides. A common name for this type of fruit is a pod, although "pod" is also applied to a few...
vine. It is native to
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
,
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
and
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and is commonly used throughout the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
for
erosion controlErosion control is the practice of preventing or controlling wind or water erosion in agriculture, land development and construction. This sometimes involves the creation of a physical barrier, such as vegetation or rock, to absorb some of the energy of the wind or water that is causing the erosion...
, roadside planting and
soilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and...
rehabilitation. It has become an
invasive species'Invasive species' is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically...
in many states of the US.
Crown Vetch grows 1 to 2 feet tall and bears small clusters of 1/2-inch pink and white
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s from early summer to late fall. The variety Penngift produces mounds of pink flowers. Crown Vetch is a tough, aggressive spreading plant that will crowd out its neighbors in a show garden but is well suited to a sunny bank, where it will grow indefinitely with little maintenance. Its deep, tenacious roots and thick, fern-like leaves provide excellent
erosionErosion is a gravity driven process that moves solids in the natural environment or their source and deposits them elsewhere...
control where it is used as a ground cover.
Crown vetch is toxic to
horseThe horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s because of the presence of nitroglycosides. If consumed in large amounts, it can cause slow growth,
paralysisParalysis is the complete loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups. Paralysis can cause loss of feeling or loss of mobility in the affected area.-Causes:Paralysis is most often caused by damage to the nervous system, especially the spinal cord...
, or even death.
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