Family Leguminosae or Fabaceae (Pea Family).
Crown Vetch is often planted to control erosion on hillsides; it also escapes freely and makes a nuisance of itself. But the bicolored flowers are pretty. They come in various shades, including occasionally pure white or the lavender we see below.
Gray describes the genus (he places it in Coronilla) and the species:
CORONILLA L. Calyx 5-toothed. Standard orbicular; keel incurved. Stamens
diadelphous. 9 and 1. Pod terete or 4-angled, jointed; the joints
eubrylindric. — Glabrous herbs or shrubs, with pinnate leaves, and the
flowers in umbels terminating axillary peduncles. (Diminutive of corona,
a crown, alluding to the inflorescence.)
C. vària L. A perennial herb with ascending stems; leaves sessile; leaf lets 15-25, oblong; flowers rose-color; pods coriaceous, 3-7 -jointed, the 4-angled joints 6-8 mm. long. — Roadsides and waste places, N. E. to N. J. (Nat. from Eu.)
