Scientific name: Vicia cracca L.
Common name: Tufted Vetch
Description
Habit: A climbing, silky hairy perennial.
Stems: Scrambling or climbing, to 2 m long.
Leaves: Alternate, pinnate, with 5-15 pairs of leaflets, ending in a tendril, tendrils branched; leaflets parallel-sided, pointed, 12-18 mm long; stipules entire.
Flowers: Blue, zygomorphic, 8-12 mm, in groups of 10-30 in stalked racemes, all facing one way; calyx of fused sepals; petals 5, 2 forming free wings, 2 are fused to form a lower keel and 1 conceals the stamens and carpel; stamens 10, 9 fused to form a tube, the 10th stamen free; carpel 1, style 1.
Fruits: A legume pod, 2-6-seeded, 10-25 mm.
Habitat: Hedges, meadows and scrub, Occasionally on limestone pavement, cultivated ground or other open habitats.Distribution: Common on limestone, occasional and locally frequent elsewhere.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No