Hairy Tare

Vicia hirsuta

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Fabales

Family:

Fabaceae (Pea)

Also in this family:

Alsike Clover, Birdsfoot, Bird's-foot Trefoil, Bitter Vetchling, Black Medick, Bladder Senna, Broad Bean, Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea, Bush Vetch, Common Broom, Common Gorse, Common Laburnum, Common Restharrow, Common Vetch, Crown Vetch, Dyer's Greenweed, False Acacia, Garden Pea, Goat's Rue, Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil, Haresfoot Clover, Hop Trefoil, Horseshoe Vetch, Kidney Vetch, Lesser Trefoil, Lucerne, Meadow Vetchling, Narrow-leaved Vetch, Red Clover, Ribbed Melilot, Russell Lupin, Scottish Laburnum, Smooth Tare, Spanish Gorse, Tall Melilot, Tufted Vetch, Western Gorse, White Clover, White Melilot, Zigzag Clover

Type:

Flower

Maximum Size:

80 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Beaches, farmland, gardens, grassland, hedgerows, meadows, roadsides, sand dunes, scrub, sea cliffs, seaside, wasteland, waterside, wetland, woodland.

Flower:

White, 5 petals

Small pea-like, pale lilac and forming spikes on long stalks.

Fruit:

A flat, pea-like pod, up to 1cm long. Hairy and often densely hairy, hence the name of this plant.

Leaves:

Compound leaves with 12 to 16 linear leaflets and a forked tendril. Similar to Smooth Tare but Hairy Tare has a greater number of paired leaflets.

Other Names:

Hairy Vetch, Tare Vetch, Tiny Vetch.

Frequency (UK):

Occasionally seen