Fodder Vetch - Vicia villosa
A sprawling plant superficially resembling Tufted Vetch but more hairy and flowers often more purple in colour and sometimes with white or yellowish wings, 10 to 20 mm in long stalked racemes. It has 4 to 12 pairs of leaflets which are linear to narrow-elliptical.
Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca)
The calyx is very assymmetrical at the base, with a large bulge on the upperside; V cracca has a calyx that is only slightly assymmetrical at the base.
The County Recorder has asked for a specimen of this plant to be retained for verification
Usually derived from grain, bird-seed or wool shoddy imports, and occurring as a casual on waste ground, tips and in arable fields. It sometimes survives for a few years on grassy banks.
Flowers June to November.
Annual.
Widespread in England but very local.
Rare in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in only 1 of the 617 tetrads.
Graham Calow
Ullesthorpe Stewardship Farm
29 August 2016
purplish flowers on hairy stems
Graham Calow
Ullesthorpe Stewardship Farm
29 August 2016
hairy stems and leaves
Graham Calow
Ullesthorpe
29 August 2016
JamesCalow
Nailstone
20 May 2017
JamesCalow
Nailstone
20 May 2017
Graham Calow
Burbage Land behind Jurys Inn Hotel
09 June 2022
Graham Calow
Burbage Land behind Jurys Inn Hotel
09 June 2022
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
Enter a town or village to see local records
MAP KEY:
Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020
UK Map
Species profile
- Common names
- Shaggy Vetch, Fodder Vetch, Lesser Tufted Vetch
- Species group:
- Wildflowers
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Fabales
- Family:
- Fabaceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 3
- First record:
- 29/08/2016 (Calow, Graham)
- Last record:
- 09/06/2022 (Calow, Graham)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.
Latest images
Latest records
JamesCalow
Nailstone
20 May 2017
Vetch Aphid
The Vetch Aphid (Megoura viciae) feeds on various species of vetch. The leaves at the tip of the shoot become crumpled and may be true galls. It is a large shiny green globular bodied aphid with black head, legs and antennae. It also has startling red eyes.
Agromyza vicifoliae
The larva of the Agromyzif fly Agromyza vicifoliae mines the leaves of various vetch species forming a blotch, preceded by a gallery along the leaf margin. The blotch is over the midrib of the leaflet. Frass occurs very sparingly in the gallery, and in the blotch as a few large lumps.
Liriomyza congesta
The larva of the Agromyzid fly Liriomyza congesta mines the leaves of various Legumes such as Peas, Medicks, Lucernes and Vetches. The mine is on the upper surface of the leaf and the frass shows in a green strips.