Description
Wood Vetch is a climbing or scrambling perennial plant reaching from 60cm to 2m in size. Flowering from June to September, the pea-shaped flowers are white with fine, purple, striated markings on the standard petal of the pea -shaped flower. A dwarf variant (var.condensatsa 0.65m) occurs on shingle and coastal cliffs in N. W. Britain & Ireland. It is thought to be in decline possibly as a consequence of the decline in coppicing because it needs light when growing in woodland edges.
Habitat Information
It grows locally in woodland edges and clearings, amongst scrub, in rocky, woody gorges and on rough ungrazed grassland on cliffs. It can also be found on shingle, screes and railway banks.