Vicia japonica A.Gray

alias

Japanese wild pea

morphological characteristics

perennial herb. Climbing stems, 6-12 cm long, slightly hairy or hairless, with even pinnate compound leaves, 4-7 pairs of leaflets, thin, oval, oval to oblong, 1-25 mm long and 6-1—25mm wide, slightly concave at the apex, round at the base, entire, green on the top, hairless on the bottom; Branched tendrils at the apex of leaf axis; Stipules are small and mostly half halberd-shaped. Racemes axillary, with 7-12 flowers, butterfly corolla, blue-purple or purple. The pod is nearly oblong and contains 1-4 seeds (Figure 61).

fig. 61 Vicia japonica

a.gray

geographical distribution

is distributed in northeast China and north China; North Korea, Japan and Russia (Far East and Siberia) also have it.

biological and ecological characteristics

Vicia faba is a mesomeadow plant. Scattered in riverbank wetlands, sandy hillsides and roadsides, it is the companion plant of forest edge and meadow in forest grassland belt. In Heilongjiang Province, it is a common companion species of Calamgrostis angustifolia and miscellaneous grass communities, and some of them can become dominant or sub-dominant species. It grows vigorously, has strong competitiveness, and can form a larger community when conditions are suitable. In Bashang, Hebei Province, upland meadow, at an altitude of 5-8 m, often forms a grass meadow community with Sanguisorba officinalis, Lathyrus sp. and Polygonatum odoratum. Like wet, not resistant to flooding, resistant to shading, and strong cold resistance. It grows fast from July to August. In Hebei, it turns green in early May, blooms in June-August, and the seeds mature in September. Seeds are easy to drop.

feeding value

all kinds of domestic animals like to eat from the tender stage to the dry stage. It can be used for grazing, mowing, preparing hay, silaging with grass, or making grass powder as feed for pigs and rabbits. It has high protein content (Table 61), no peculiar smell and good palatability, and is an excellent leguminous forage.

Table 61 Chemical constituents of Vicia faba Xiao Wenyi's Essays on Resources Development and Utilization of Calophylla angustifolia, mimeographed, 199. (%)

As can be seen from Table 6, the content of crude protein in Vicia faba is high, but the crude fiber is less, so it has high nutritional value. Northeast Agricultural College has tried planting, and the yield of fresh grass is 22.5-3. t/ha, which is one of the excellent grasses with domestication prospect.