Smooth Tare - Ervum tetraspermum

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Description

Short to medium plant. Leaves with 3 to 6 pairs of wide oblong leaflets. Flowers pale purple 4 to 8 mm in 1 or 2 flowered racemes. Pod brown, usually 4 seeded, hairless.

Similar Species

Hairy Tare is similar but the two species can be separated with care. Smooth Tare flowers are larger and more purple in colour. See the marked diagram below for a comparison of the two species.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Dry grassy places, rough grassland, roadside verges.

When to see it

May to August.

Life History

Annual.

UK Status

Found fairly frequently in England as far north as the Humber, rare and casual in Scotland and infrequent in Wales.

VC55 Status

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 44 of the 617 tetrads.

  • David Nicholls
    Fleckney
    16 July 2016
  • David Nicholls
    Broughton Astley, Broughton Rd corner
    08 June 2020
  • David Nicholls
    Leicester, Sunningdale Rd
    29 September 2024
    leaf tips not 'shouldered'
  • David Nicholls
    Leicester, Sunningdale Rd
    29 September 2024
    stipules
  • HAPeacock
    The Orchards
    26 June 2012
  • Graham Calow
    Foot of Croft Hill
    19 June 2014



  • Comparing Smooth Tare and Hairy Tare

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Species data profile ?

Species profile

Common names
Smooth Tare
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Fabales
Family:
Fabaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
80
First record:
21/09/1998 (Anthony Fletcher)
Last record:
15/10/2024 (Isabel Raval)

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

  • David Nicholls
    Cloud Wood
    07 July 2012
  • Graham Calow
    Ullesthorpe Stewardship Farm
    05 September 2012
  • AJ Cann
    Croft Hill
    25 June 2016
  • Graham Calow
    Ullesthorpe Stewardship Farm
    05 September 2012
  • Graham Calow
    M69 Island, Sapcote
    27 June 2008
  • David Gould
    Croft Hill, Leics
    17 July 2014
  • HAPeacock
    The Orchards
    26 June 2012
  • David Nicholls
    Cloud Wood
    24 June 2011
  • David Gould
    Croft Hill, Leics
    03 July 2015
  • David Nicholls
    Cloud Wood
    24 June 2011
  • HAPeacock
    The Orchards
    26 June 2012
  • David Nicholls
    Fleckney
    16 July 2016
  • Graham Calow
    Ullesthorpe Stewardship Farm
    05 September 2012
  • Graham Calow
    Ullesthorpe Stewardship Farm
    15 June 2015
  • Graham Calow
    Ullesthorpe Stewardship Farm
    15 June 2015
  • Graham Calow
    Stanton Road, Elmesthorpe
    15 June 2016