Irish wildflowers sitemap


Photographs: Co.Cork

Common Vetch
Vicia sativa
Peasair chapaill
Family: Fabaceae

Flowering time: April-September. Annual. Native.

Solitary or paired flowers in leaf-axils. Pink to reddish-purple, sometimes white
or bi-coloured. Slender seed-pods. Smooth mature seeds, 4-12. Alternate pinnate leaves, usually 4-6 pairs of leaflets. Widest nearest tip. Tendrils present, usually branched. Straggling ridged stems. Very variable.
Vicia sativa ssp. segetalis is the most frequent subspecies found in Ireland.
Ssp. nigra Very rare.

Dry, sandy grassland, roadsides, waste ground.
     
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