About Vicia caroliniana Walter
Vicia caroliniana Walter has alternately arranged compound leaves. Its leaflets are subalternate, elliptical to lanceolate in shape, and have hairy undersides. The leaf bases have paired stipules, and leaves end in single or bifurcated tendrils. Its stems are slightly winged and hollow. Flowers have five petals, grow in inflorescences that emerge from leaf axils. The anthers are orange, and the petals range in color from pale purple to white. This species produces dehiscent seed pods that measure 1.5 to 3 centimeters (0.59 to 1.18 inches) long. Native peoples of southeastern North America, including the Cherokee, use this plant for a range of medicinal purposes. It is used to treat back pain, local pain, muscular cramps, and twitching, to toughen muscles, and is rubbed onto stomach cramps. A preparation of the plant is used for rheumatism and for an affliction referred to as "blacks", and it is taken for wind before a ball game. An infusion of the plant is used for muscle pain by being rubbed onto scratches made at the site of pain. This infusion is also consumed as an emetic. Taken internally combined with Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium ssp. obtusifolium, it is also used to treat rheumatism.
