In message , Jeff Layman
writes
On 03/07/2012 11:22, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
In message , Jeff Layman
writes
On 03/07/2012 02:23, Sheila wrote:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/6373089...in/photostream
Might be a Tufted Vetch. Might be another type of vetch. They are
difficult to tell apart even with a good photo. I would have expected
to see tendrils at the ends of the leaves, but can't see any even when
enlarging the photo. Strange.
With practice the commoner vetches are fairly easy to tell apart. Tufted
vetch has a dense inflorescence of indigo flowers borne on a long stalk.
Bush vetch has a gappy inflorescence of magenta flowers without the
stalk. Common vetch has pairs of scarlet flowers in the leaf nodes.
Hairy tare and smooth tare have small white, blueish or purpleish
flowers - the easiest way to tell them apart is to count the seeds in
the pods - hairy tare has 2 seeds per pod, and smooth tare 4 seeds per
pod.
This however appears not to be a vetch - the leaves are imparipinnate,
rather than paripinnate. (The other genus with paripinnate leaves is
Lathyrus - the peas and vetchlings.)
The inflorescence of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) is more like that
of a lupin. I'm going to plump for goat's rue (Galega officinalis).
(Both plants are rare in my neck of the woods - I've found sainfoin at 3
sites, and never found goat's rue in the wild.)
Good ID.
I'd also thought of sainfoin and rejected it. Never considered goat's
rue. I don't remember if I've seen it in the wild, but I would have
rejected it based on the illustration in "The Illustrated Flora of
Britain and Northern Europe" (Blamey/Grey-Wilson). The text correctly
refers to it as "White to pale purplish lilac", whereas the
illustration has deep pink flowers! Interestingly, "The Wild Flower
Key" (Rose) doesn't even have an illustration, but notes that it is
like sainfoin, but has white to pale purple flowers.
I nearly rejected it based on the illustration in "The Wild Flowers of
the British Isles" (Garrard/Streeter), which shows the leaflets as
having a different (more pointed) shape, but I checked out some images
on the web, as there was nothing else in the book that it could be.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley