Common Vetch - Vicia sativa subsp. segetalis

Medium to tall clambering, hairy plant. Tendrils are sometimes unbranched. Stipules toothed, with a dark spot near the base. Flowers pink to dark reddish purple, with paler wings 18 to 30 mm long, solitary or two together. Sub-species nigra has flowers that are uniformly coloured.

Bush Vetch has more purplish flowers which turn blue as they age.

Grassy habitats, meadows, roadside verges.

April to September.

Annual.

Common throughout most of Britain.

Very common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 458 of the 617 tetrads.