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The pollen morphology of 32 species of the genus Vicia was studied using scanning and transmission electron microscope (SEM and TEM). The interstitia of the pollen of the examined species were found to be either regular columellate, irregular columellate, or granular. The granular pattern was recognized to be apomorphy against the columellate patterns in the tribe Vicieae by comparison with the pollen in the tribes Vicieae, Cicereae, Galegeae, Hedysareae, and Trifolieae. The group of Vicia species having the apomorphy was congruent with that having a known apomorphy of the pistil character. This group with such synapomorphies may be monophyletic, though it is treated as polyphyletic in the present infrageneric system of Vicia.

A cladistic analysis of tribes Cicereae, Trifolieae, and Vicieae was carried out using 33 morphological, anatomical, karyological, and chemotaxonomical characteristics. Transformation polarities of the character states were developed by comparison with the character states of the genus Galega, the sister group of the tribes. Cicereae and Vicieae were found to be a monophyletic group, and Trifolieae was its sister group. The seven synapomorphic characters of Cicereae and Vicieae were presumed to be: germination hypogeal vs. epigeal; first leaf in seedlings scarious vs. laminous; leaves paripinnately and tendrilous vs. imparipinnately and etendrilous; postchalazal vascular bundle present in seed coats vs. absent; a cotyledon flap present at antihilar side vs. absent; radicles short in seeds vs. long; and plumules long in seeds vs. short.

Both Bentham and Hooker, and Taubert, admit that these characters do not absolutely distinguish the genera of this subtribe from all other genera of Fabaceae, for I-seeded indehiscent pods are found elsewhere in the family and glandular-dotted plants are also found, as Glycyrrhiza. They have, however, overlooked the fact that several of the species by them included in Psoralea have dehiscent pods. This is the case with all those segregated by me as the genus Pediomelum. I also suspect that in the genus Hoita, judging from the texture and structure, the pod also is tardily dehiscent. If so it is valvate, not circumscissile as in Pediomelum. Though there remains not a single character that absolutely distinguishes the genera of this tribe from all others in the family, the group is rather natural and in my opinion it should be regarded as a tribe rather than a subtribe of Galegeae. It shows, for instance, just as much affinity to Hedysareae or Trifolieae, in which tribes I-seeded indehiscent pods are found. In Cullen (a segregate from Psoralea), the leaflets are toothed and the pod much like that found in the latter tribe, while in Asphalthium the pod is practically a loment of 2 internodes, the lower closely investing the seed and the upper (the beak) empty and breaking off. The tribe shows many variations, and the genera show more abnormalities than in any other tribe as far as I know. The tribe includes herbs, shrubs, and trees, usually with gland-dotted foliage. In some cases the gland-dots are confined to the calyx or fruit alone. In one case, Or