Flowers usually variegated yellow-violet, sometimes green, yellow, or violet. Legumes often with 1.5 coils, sometimes falcate or with 0.8–1.4 coils. 2n = 32 [also 16 in Eurasia].

Phenology: Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat: Prai­ries, rocky and grassy slopes, thickets, meadows, sand dunes, fallow fields, roadsides.
Elevation: 0–3000 m.

Distribution

Introduced; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., N.W.T., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon, Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis., Wyo., Eurasia, introduced also in Central America, South America, Pacific Islands, Australia.

Discussion

Subspecies ×varia is the result of hybridization of subspp. falcata and sativa. Most plants are not F1 hybrids, but the result of local backcrossing that has produced introgressants showing intermediacy in fruit characters (neither notably coiled nor more or less straight) and flower color (neither completely yellow nor completely violet, but usually a mixture or variegation of these colors). F1 hybrid plants are generally recognizable by the presence of greenish flowers, the result of a blending of the yellow pigment of subsp. falcata and the violet color pigments of subsp. sativa. Since several of the diagnostic characters segregate and combine more or less independently, precise delimitation from the parental species can be difficult. Subspecies × varia is extensively cultivated, especially in more northern areas of the world, and has a greater tendency to weediness than the other subspecies, and so it is also very widely distributed.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.