Meadow vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis) is a common plant that
grows throughout the British Isles in grassy place and also in hedges and on
banks such as railway embankments, where it forms large clumps.
Meadow vetchling is a nitrogen fixer, so it is a welcome
plant on grass meadows. It also contributes to the nutritional value of
pastures and hay crops, due to being relatively rich in protein, especially in
its seeds.
It is a scrambling plant that produces weak, spindly stems
up to 48 inches (120 cms) in length. These gain support from other plants by
virtue of tendrils at the leaf tips. Leaf-like stipules grow at the base of the
leaf stalks, which are square in cross-section.
Despite having a small, forked tendril on each leaf, meadow
vetchling is not a great climber.
Meadow vetchling flowers from May to August, with five to
twelve yellow flowers being carried on stalks that are longer than the leaves.
The flowers are visited mainly by bumble bees, which have tongues that are long
enough to reach the nectar at the bottom of the long flower tubes.
The seed pods look flattened when ripe and sometimes are
covered with fine hairs.
The plant also spreads due to its creeping, underground
rootstock. These throw up a profusion of sharply angled stems.
Folk names for meadow vetchling include “lady`s slippers”
and “old granny’s slipper-sloppers”, these names referring to the shape of the
flowers. Another name, “yellow tare-tine”, makes use of an old name for vetch,
namely “tare”, although this should not be confused with the word for weed that
appears in the Authorised Version of the New Testament.
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