We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.
~ Thomas Fuller
'Gnomologia' 1732 ~
American Vetch(Vicia American)
This native plant is a climbing perennial in the pea(legume) family. American Vetch is an attractive plant that grows 20 to 80 centimetres tall and has reddish purple flowers. It blooms from July to August(1)
Vetch is a member of the pea family. Members of the pea family have a special relationship with bacteria called Ryzobia. The Rhyzobia bacteria take nitrogen from the air and change it into nitrogen compounds that the plant can use to make protein, vitamins and DNA. In return, the legume plant will feed the bacteria some of the sugar it makes by photosynthesis and some of the nutrients it obtained from its roots. This relationship is called symbiosis. Both the vetch plant and the bacteria benefit. Without the support from the a legume plant, this bacteria would only be able to make a small fraction of the nitrogen compounds. The legume plant benefits by being supplied with plenty of nitrogen compounds to help it grow.
Only bacteria are able to change nitrogen in the air into a form of nitrogen that other plants are able to use. Bacteria in the soil, without the help of nitrogen fixing plants, are able to fix less than 5 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Members of the pea family have an amazing ability to fix nitrogen. They are able to achieve this through a symbiotic relationship between bacteria and nodules in their roots. In a natural setting, legumes are able to fix 25-75 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Perennial and forage legumes such as alfalfa , sweet clover. true clover, and vetches, are able to fix 250 -500 pounds of nitrogen per acre in a cropping system.(2)
When American vetch dies and decomposes, the nitrogen it fixed during its growing season is available for other plants and microorganisms. Nitrogen is essential for the building blocks of protein and DNA and other life sustaining molecules. In the web of life, all terrestrial insects, amphibians, birds and mammals including humans eventually depend on obtaining their nitrogen from plants. In nature, plants depend on the nitrogen fixing plants for most of their nitrogen needs. Nitrogen fixing plants like vetch, allow bacteria to fix 5 to 100 times more nitrogen than the bacteria could fix by itself in soil. This incredible relationship that nitrogen fixing plants have with bacteria, provides abundantly more nitrogen, allowing the existence of far more plants and vegetation and therefore all other types of life as well.
Learning about nitrogen fixation, and the vital role plants like American Vetch play in sustaining life, will induce us to treasure these incredible plants. Planting and protecting plants like American Vetch very much improves the fertility of the soils and greatly increases the essential nutrient nitrogen to every living creature.
(1)Manitoba Wayside Flowers Linda Kershaw Lone Pine 2003
(2)http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A129/
(3)http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-3101/PSS-2590web.pdf
~ Thomas Fuller
'Gnomologia' 1732 ~
American Vetch(Vicia American)
This native plant is a climbing perennial in the pea(legume) family. American Vetch is an attractive plant that grows 20 to 80 centimetres tall and has reddish purple flowers. It blooms from July to August(1)
Vetch is a member of the pea family. Members of the pea family have a special relationship with bacteria called Ryzobia. The Rhyzobia bacteria take nitrogen from the air and change it into nitrogen compounds that the plant can use to make protein, vitamins and DNA. In return, the legume plant will feed the bacteria some of the sugar it makes by photosynthesis and some of the nutrients it obtained from its roots. This relationship is called symbiosis. Both the vetch plant and the bacteria benefit. Without the support from the a legume plant, this bacteria would only be able to make a small fraction of the nitrogen compounds. The legume plant benefits by being supplied with plenty of nitrogen compounds to help it grow.
Only bacteria are able to change nitrogen in the air into a form of nitrogen that other plants are able to use. Bacteria in the soil, without the help of nitrogen fixing plants, are able to fix less than 5 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Members of the pea family have an amazing ability to fix nitrogen. They are able to achieve this through a symbiotic relationship between bacteria and nodules in their roots. In a natural setting, legumes are able to fix 25-75 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Perennial and forage legumes such as alfalfa , sweet clover. true clover, and vetches, are able to fix 250 -500 pounds of nitrogen per acre in a cropping system.(2)
When American vetch dies and decomposes, the nitrogen it fixed during its growing season is available for other plants and microorganisms. Nitrogen is essential for the building blocks of protein and DNA and other life sustaining molecules. In the web of life, all terrestrial insects, amphibians, birds and mammals including humans eventually depend on obtaining their nitrogen from plants. In nature, plants depend on the nitrogen fixing plants for most of their nitrogen needs. Nitrogen fixing plants like vetch, allow bacteria to fix 5 to 100 times more nitrogen than the bacteria could fix by itself in soil. This incredible relationship that nitrogen fixing plants have with bacteria, provides abundantly more nitrogen, allowing the existence of far more plants and vegetation and therefore all other types of life as well.
Learning about nitrogen fixation, and the vital role plants like American Vetch play in sustaining life, will induce us to treasure these incredible plants. Planting and protecting plants like American Vetch very much improves the fertility of the soils and greatly increases the essential nutrient nitrogen to every living creature.
(1)Manitoba Wayside Flowers Linda Kershaw Lone Pine 2003
(2)http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A129/
(3)http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-3101/PSS-2590web.pdf
