From June to the end of August, Tufted Vetch is a most attractive part of our hedgerows. Like Bush Vetch, it uses long branched tendrils to help it climb and scramble through scrub, grassy places and embankments. It is a silky plant with bright blue-purple peaflowers (8-12mm) which grow in one-sided 8cm long spikes. The leaves comprise 8 - 12 pairs of narrow, oblong, pointed leaflets. Tufted Vetch's brown seedpods are hairless and contain 6-8 seeds.This is a native plant and belongs to the family Fabaceae.
I first identified this beautiful flower in Killiney, Co Dublin and photographed it in Ballytore, Co Kildare (2000) and Tullycanna, Co Wexford in 2004.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
