V. sativa L. is a tertiary wild relative of Hungarian vetch (V. pannonica Crantz), faba bean (V. faba L.), narbon bean (V. narbonensis L.) and more remotely a number of other cultivated vetches articulated vetch (V. articulata Hornem.), bitter vetch (V. ervilia (L.) Willd.) and Winter vetch (V. villosa Roth.) (Maxted 1993).

V. sativa has several subspecific taxa recognised: ssp. amphicarpa (L.) Batt., ssp. cordata (Wulfen ex Hoppe) Asch. & Graebner, ssp. macrocarpa (Moris) Arcang., ssp. nigra (L.) Ehrh. (syn. = V. angustifolia L.), ssp. sativa and ssp. segetalis (Thuill.) Gaudin. (Wouw et al. 2001, 2003).

European regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)

EU 27 regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)

Vicia sativa is a widespread species with a stable population trend and no major threats.

V. sativa is found in virtually every geographic region of Europe (Maxted 1995).

In France it is widespread and it occurs in all departments throughout the country including Corsica (Association Tela Botanica 2010).

In the UK it is widespread throughout England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland although its distribution becomes patchy in the northwest of Scotland (Preston et al. 2002).

In Ireland it is widespread in central and eastern areas however, its distribution becomes patchy in the west (Preston et al. 2002). In Denmark V. sativa ssp. nigra and V. sativa ssp. segetalis are both native, V. sativa ssp. sativa is also recorded to occur in Denmark but it is introduced (P. Wind pers. comm. 2010).

This is a common species and its population trend is stable. In the UK according to Preston et al. (2002), the distribution of this species has changed very little since the original British Plant Atlas (Perring and Walters 1962).

V. sativa is a common pan-temperate and semi-tropical weed of agricultural and disturbed land, and is also found in the margins of woodland. It flowers from February to November (Maxted 1995).

In the UK this lowland species grows in grassy and wayside localities; it prefers dry and sandy areas (Preston et al. 2002).

This species is so widespread there appears to be no specific threats facing it.

Two subspecies of V. sativa, ssp. nigra and ssp. sativa are cultivated; ssp. nigra is cultivated often in a mixture with other species in Europe and and ssp. sativa is cultivated as fodder in southeast Europe and the Middle East. The white seeded form wass cultivated for human food in the former Soviet Union.

As a crop wild relative and potential gene donor V. sativa L. is a  tertiary wild relative of Hungarian vetch (V. pannonica Crantz), faba bean (V. faba L.), narbon bean (V. narbonensis L.) and more remotely a number of other cultivated vetches articulated vetch (V. articulata Hornem.), bitter vetch (V. ervilia (L.) Willd.) and Winter vetch (V. villosa Roth.).

The genus Vicia is listed in Annex I of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture as part of the faba bean gene pool.

EURISCO reports 3,922 germplasm accessions held in European genebanks, 237 of which are reported to be of wild or weedy origin. Of the wild accessions, 158 originate from within Europe (EURISCO Catalogue 2010).

In situ the species is likely to be passively conserved in many existing protected areas in throughout its range but as its conservation in these sites is not actively monitored it may be subject to population loss over time from factors such as climate change.

V. sativa ssp. nigra and V. sativa ssp. segetalis are classified as Least Concern (LC) in Denmark (Den Danske Rødliste 2010).