categoryZClimbers Climbers List 
categoryZDeciduous Deciduous List 

TUFTED VETCH

Vicia cracca

Pea Family [Fabaceae]  

month8jun month8june month8jul month8july month8Aug

category
category8Climbers
category
category8Deciduous
status
statusZnative
flower
flower8blue
 
flower
flower8purple
 
inner
inner8purple
 
morph
morph8zygo
 
petals
petalsZ5
 
type
typeZspiked
1-sided
stem
stem8round
 

19th July 2007, North Walney Island, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
A sprawling rift of Tufted Vetch.


10th July 2008, Carrington Mess, Greater Manchester. Photo: © RWD
Growing amongst Rosebay Willowherb.


14th August 2008, Adlington, Lancashire. Photo: © RWD
Tufted Vetch can climb sprawlingly up to 2 metres high.


14th August 2008, Adlington, Lancashire. Photo: © RWD
And always has a straggly appearance.


21st May 2020, East Lancs Rd, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Showing how the flowers are on the same side as the leaves, which alternate sides on the main stem. The topmost leaves are smaller (but there are slightly more of them) than those near the bottom. The size of the leaflets also diminishes the further from the main stem they are. [This specimen is too floppy to stand upright on its own]


14th August 2008, Adlington, Lancashire. Photo: © RWD
The narrowish leaves are in 8 - 12 upwardly-angled opposite pairs.


19th July 2007, North Walney Island, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
The purple/mauve flowers with the standard roughly as long as the claw. They rarely open wide enough to see the innards properly.


21st June 2007 Photo: © RWD
Apart from the uppermost, the flowers are in adjacent pairs, all on the same side of the stem.


14th August 2008, Adlington, Lancashire. Photo: © RWD
The hairlessseed pods eventually turn brown.


25th June 2005, Peak Forest Canal, Strines, Derbyshire. Photo: © RWD
The climbing tendrils are paired up.


5th July 2014, Rimrose Valley Country Pk, Waterloo, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Occupies and clambers up and spreads through vegetation up to 4 feet but hesitates in denser shrubs where light levels are much poorer. Likes to sunbathe..


20th Sept 2016, Leeds & L/pool canal, Parbold, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Will scramble much higher (here about 9 feet) providing it can get enough sun, which it can here on both sides of a metal mesh fence. Fewer flowers here allow one to see the leaves and their climbing tendrils properly.


3rd July 2015, Gravel Quarry, Moses Gate, Bolton, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
A rather long specimen. Flowers can be deep blue or purple-pink, but usually both at the same time. Evaporating rain drops on inflorescence.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Southport, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Here deep purple-pink.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Southport, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
They don't like showing their backsides. Stems slightly ribbed/striated and with very short hairs.


13th Sept 2018, Upholland, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The sepal cups are very short, their teeth shorter at the top but much longer underneath to support the flower. Stems with short hairs, this specimen with a hairy tail at the termination.


3rd July 2015, Gravel Quarry, Moses Gate, Bolton, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The leaf consists of a rachis (stem) supporting between 8 to 12 somewhat haphazardly-paired leaflets. Leaflets slightly shorter near the end of the rachis.


27th July 2012, Marshside, Southport, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Leaflets extended oval, slightly broader nearer the supporting rachis (stem), haphazardly opposite (or so). The leaflets are on very short petioles (stalks) and have a short acuminate point at the end, which is slightly asymmetrically set.


Some similarities to : Fine-leaved Vetch (Vicia tenuifolia) and to Fodder Vetch (Vicia villosa), but both of these are much less frequent in the UK occurring in only a few places, unlike Tufted Vetch which is almost ubiquitous throughout. Fodder Vetch is an introduced annual species quite rare apart from around London with larger flowers (10-20mm) which are a similar blue colour and the narrow 'stem' of the banner petal is twice as long (not roughly equal as in Tufted Vetch). Fine-leaved Vetch is more of a bluish-lilac to purple colour, rarer than Fodder Vetch and might just only be a sub-species of Tufted Vetch (?).

Uniquely identifiable characteristics

Distinguishing Feature :


USE BY BUTTERFLIES
LAYS EGGS ON CATERPILLAR CHRYSALIS BUTTERFLY
Wood White
Cryptic Wood White
Short-tailed Blue



  Vicia cracca  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Fabaceae  

Distribution
family8Pea family8Fabaceae  family8Leguminosae
 BSBI maps
genus8vicia
Vicia
(Vetches)

TUFTED VETCH

Vicia cracca

Pea Family [Fabaceae]  

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