Clusters of four to twelve yellow pea flowers on a scrambler whose leaves have just one pair of narrow leaflets and a tendril
Meadow vetchling, Lathyrus pratensis.
Nature · Wildflowers & flowers
Meadow vetchling
Native · flowers May–Aug · rough grassland, verges and waste ground
Lathyrus pratensis — Fabaceae
A scrambling pea-relative with clusters of clear yellow flowers and unusual leaves of a single pair of narrow leaflets ending in a tendril. It threads through long grass on verges and rough meadows, and is easily mistaken for bird's-foot trefoil. The tendril and the black pods are the quick ways to know it.
How to spot them
- ▸Yellow pea-like flowers in loose clusters of four to twelve on long stalks from the leaf joints
- ▸Leaves made of a single pair of narrow, pointed leaflets and a simple or branched tendril at the tip
- ▸Angled stems that scramble and climb through grass and bushes; up to about 50 cm
- ▸Shiny black seed pods, like small peapods, after flowering
- ▸Bird's-foot trefoil has five leaflets and no tendrils, and is a creeping mat rather than a scrambler
How to know it
Sometimes called 'meadow pea', it is a yellow-flowered scrambler of long grass and roadside verges
Meadow vetchling (a Wildlife Trusts name).
The flowers give way to shiny black pods resembling peapods, on a climbing member of the legume family
Meadow vetchling.
Tell it from bird's-foot trefoil: this one has tendrils and only a single pair of leaflets
Meadow vetchling.
A yellow-flowered legume that attracts bees and wasps as it scrambles through grassy waste ground from May to August
Meadow vetchling.
Quick-fire facts
- •Family Fabaceae, the pea family; Lathyrus is the genus of the sweet peas
- •Flowers May to August in groups of four to twelve (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust)
- •Other names include meadow pea and fingers-and-thumbs
- •Grows in rough grassland, on roadside verges and on waste ground; height up to 50 cm
- •Its leaves have a single pair of leaflets, with tendrils for climbing
- •The shiny black seed pods resemble tiny pea pods
- •Flowers attract bees and wasps
- •Like the other legumes, its root nodules fix nitrogen
Drill it — 6 cards
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Sources
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust — Meadow vetchling