Bush Vetch - Vicia sepium

Description

Medium to tall, usually hairy, clambering plant. Leaflets, 3 to 9 pairs, oval to oblong, stipules with a dark spot near to the base. Flowers pink/purple, 12 to 15 mm, in clusters of 2 to 6 with a very short stalk. The lower petals are usually a darker shade of pink than the upper flag petals.

Similar Species

other vetches

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Leaflets with blunt tips, and wider towards the base.  Calyx teeth unequal, the lower ones longer than the upper, but shorter than the tube

Habitat

Woodland edges, grassy places, scrub, hedgerows and roadsides.

When to see it

May to November.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Fairly common in most of Britain except some eastern areas.

VC55 Status

Common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 374 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Bush Vetch
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Fabales
Family:
Fabaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
160
First record:
01/01/2007 (Harry Ball)
Last record:
02/09/2023 (Cunningham, Sally)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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