Scientific name: Lathyrus pratensis L.
Common name: Meadow Vetchling
Description
Habit: A climbing, slightly hairy perennial.
Stems: Straggling, angled, to 1.2 m long.
Leaves: Alternate; pinnate leaves with 1 pair of lanceolate, acute, pale bluish-green leaflets, ending in an unbranched or branched tendril, stipules nearly as large as leaflets, with pointed lobes at the base.
Flowers: Yellow, zygomorphic, hermaphrodite, 12-15 mm across, in groups of 5-12 in racemes; calyx of 5 sepals fused into a tube, calyx teeth variable; 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 and the 10th free; carpel 1, style 1.
Fruits: A legume pod.
Habitat: Grassland, hedges, limestone pavement.
Distribution: Abundant.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No