Crown Vetch - Securigera varia

Short to tall plant with spreading to erect stems. Leaves with 7 to 12 pairs of elliptical or oblong leaflets. Flowers pink, lilac, purple or bi-coloured, 10 to 15 mm, in heads of 10 to 20.

Many pairs of leaflets, usually pink flowers in umbels, may be whitish or purple

A photo of the whole plant, showing leaves as well as flowers

Grassy and waste places.

June to August.

Perennial. Once grown for fodder and now naturalised in places.

Uncommon. It is naturalised in scattered localities in Britain as far north as Aberdeen, but more frequent in the south.

Quite rare in Leicestershire and Rutland. It was not recorded in the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire.

In the current checklist (Jeeves 2011) it is listed as Alien; disturbed ground; rare