Gmelin's vetch

Family Fabaceae. A glacial-period relict with a wide range of distribution. The plant grows in sparse coniferous forests, as well as in mountain meadows of the montane-forest and subalpine belts. General distribution: Altai and the adjoining part of the West Siberian Plain, Transbaikalia, the southern part of Eastern Siberia, the mountains of Central Asia and northwestern China.

Perennial short-rhizomed plant. Reaches 60–150 cm in height, with erect stems and large pinnate leaf blades divided into 3–5 pairs of oblong-elliptic leaflets; the leaf axis ends in a point. The flowers are gathered in sparse terminal racemes. The corolla of the flower is yellow at the beginning of flowering and becomes orange by the end. Since in the racemes the flowers open not simultaneously but from bottom to top, the lower, already fading flowers are orange, while the upper ones are yellow. The plant is quite ornamental thanks to its beautifully divided leaves and two-colored racemes. Gmelin's vetch blooms in June–July, and the oblong-linear dark brown pods ripen in August–September.

Gmelin's vetch is a fairly hardy species. In the MSU Botanical Garden it has grown for many years in the Siberian rock garden display. It is propagated by seeds and by parts of the rhizome. Suitable for creating solitary groups and mixed compositions in gardens of continuous bloom or in rock gardens. Cultivation of this plant will contribute to the preservation of the gene pool of rare species.

based on materials from the website www.flower.onego.ru