Tufted vetch

Tufted vetch (Vicia cracca) is a common plant of grassland and hedgerows throughout much of Great Britain. Indeed, its tall spikes of up to 40 purple/blue flowers make it one of the more distinctive hedgerow plants. 

Tufted vetch is also sometimes used as a garden plant to provide a display of colour in late summer. This is despite its close relationship to the “hairy tare” (Vicia hirsuta) that is the “tare sown among the wheat” in the parable told by Jesus in Matthew chapter 13.

Tufted vetch climbs by means of branched tendrils that are similar to those used by other members of the pea family. The leaves have between 12 and 30 leaflets. The flowering spikes grow on stalks that are up to 80 inches (200 cms) long. Flowering is between June and August.

The sepals join in a tube that covers nearly half the flower. The seed pods are smooth and square-ended. They each contain up to six seeds.

© John Welford