Posted: Sunday 19th July 2020 by trustadmin
Meadow Vetchling Lathyrus pratensis
Meadow Vetchling is a member of the pea family and a relative of the garden Sweet Pea. It is a scrambling plant with long stems which end with a cluster of 5-12 yellow typical pea-like flowers which are attractive to bees and wasps. The leaves comprise a single pair of leaflets with tendrils at their tips to help them grab and scramble up surrounding vegetation.
Whilst the hermaphrodite flowers are pollinated by bees the plant can also spread through underground stems, an important method of producing new plants some way from the parent.
It can be found in flower in rough grassland and roadside verges from May to August. Very common throughout Britain, it is only occasional on Alderney – a good place to look for it is on the roadside up to Essex Hill or along the path in the field below the Woodland Bunker in the Community Woodland.
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