my ability to identify this plant has an unusual history. it’s one of the very few local minnesota plants i’ve ever known whose name i learned first in french and then had to translate back into english. when our friend, jean-luc, pointed out a pretty, delicate purple-flowered plant growing low in some languedocian scrubland alongside a vineyard, he called it “la vaisse.” it looked vaguely familiar, and then one day, back home, alongside a minnesota prairie, i saw a lovely little purple flowered plant with tiny fern-like fronds, and recognized it as “la vaisse,” which translates naturally and exactly to “vetch.” if you had forced me to place a bet, i would have said there was some latin mixed up in there, and sure enough, according to google, the latin name for vetch/vaisse is “vicia.” there is, as always, nothing new under the sun.

common crown vetch leaves

saint paul, minnesota