These beautiful magenta flowers belong to the common vetch, a plant that is growing in abundance in our 'wildflower meadow'. The leguminous plants are scrambling and climbing over each other to create a lovely display of fresh green foliage with, from afar, polka-dots of pink. Close up, these flowers look like miniature sweet peas, so it is unsurprising that both are in the pea, or legume family. Their climbing habit has caused this patch to become a small jungle of leaflets and delicate flowers, creating a wonderland to peer into from the undergrowth.
As I watched, several common carder bees were visiting the flowers, seemingly favouring them over other nearby blooms. Looking closely, many of the leaves have also been nibbled, so they are hopefully hosting some caterpillars or other animals. The common vetch also has other uses, being in the pea family, it is a nitrogen producer, so can be used as green manure and can be grown as livestock fodder.
References:
https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/common-vetch (accessed 06/05/2020)
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/common-vetch (accessed 06/05/2020)
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