Vicia lathyroides   Spring Vetch C DD N

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This tiny pea plant tends to have just one or two flowers per plant and grows in the grass no more than a few centimetres high. I find it with Myosotis ramosissima and typically on sandy soils or in dune systems. The flowers aren't consistent in colour. Some are a rosy purple like this and others are much nearer blue.

Vicia lathyroides likes very sandy habitats so it isn't surprising to find it very near the coast for most of England and Wales. There are substantial inland sites in east Anglia, the far south of England, south eastern Scotland and around Inverness. It is rare in the highlands and far north, In Ireland it is uncommon and mostly found on the east coast.

Vicia lathyroides

Vicia lathyroides Spring Vetch

Deganwy Hills, nr Llandudno, North Wales 5th April 2005

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Vicia lathyroides HSpring Vetch

Sandy soil on the edge of Newborough Forest, 5th April 2005

Added on 7th April 2005, updated 22nd February 2012, updated 1st August 2018

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