Crooked Broad Bean, Slanting head vegetable
Vicia unijuga

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 1 m high. It is covered with dense soft silky hairs. The leaves have leaflets along the stalk. There are 2 leaflets and they are 3-10 cm long by 2-4 cm wide. The flowers are purple or purple-red. They are showy and 1.5 cm long. They occur as 6-8 in a group in the axils of leaves. The pod is 3-4 cm long and brown. The seeds are a flattened round shape and brown.

There are about 140 Vicia species. They are mostly temperate.

Where it is found

It is a temperate vegetable. It grows in Inner Mongolia in China. It occur throughout much of China below 4,000 m above sea level. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, China, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Russia, Siberia, Tibet

How it is used for food

The young leaves are eaten with oil and salt. The seeds are occasionally eaten.

It is occasionally cultivated.

Edible parts

Leaves, seeds

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Nanten hagi, Two-leaved vetch

Synonyms

Ervum unijugum (A. Braun) Alef.; Lathyrus messerschmidtii Franchet & Savat.; Orobus lathyroides L.;