American Vetch Seeds (Vicia americana)

An outstanding wildlife plant for wild lawns and every kind of meadow. Despite the fact that this small perennial, climbing, twining wildflower occurs in most of North America’s meadow, prairie, and grassland regions, American vetch rarely gets noticed. This is unfortunate since it is a long-blooming little plant with pink- or fuchsia-colored flowers, and is a host plant for MANY species of butterflies (including the western tailed blue (Cupido amyntula), the eastern tailed blue (Cupido comyntas), the silvery blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus), the Funereal duskywing (Erynnis funeralis), and the western sulphur (Colias occidentalis) to name just a few!). Moreover, American vetch is an exemplary bumble bee plant. Not at all aggressive or crowding in the way that non-native vetches are, American vetch typically forms fewer stems, remaining slender, and scarcely visible within a grassy canopy – its presence revealed mostly by small showy flowers during the late spring and summer months. This is