HAIRY TARE

Vicia hirsuta

Pea [Fabaceae]

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flower
flower8white		 morph
morph8zygo		 petals
petalsZ5		 stem
stem8square		 stem
stem8ribbed

13th July 2011, Blackleach Country Park, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Not easy to see amidst its rough grassland habitat, but the whitish bits are the flowers together with the darker green leaves.


27th July 2007, Crosby, Sefton Coast. Photo: © RWD
Un-like Smooth Tare and Slender Tare, the leaves are not always in pairs, only some are. Leaflets narrow, coming from square stems.


13th July 2011, Blackleach Country Park, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
It impossible to see what is going on in-situ, but held aloft the reason for its quantum entanglement is seen to be due to the numerous tendrils it ensnares other plants with to enable it to better clamber over them.


13th July 2011, Blackleach Country Park, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
All stems square and slightly hairy un-like the other Tares. Flowers mainly white with bluish-lilac tinges.


13th July 2011, Blackleach Country Park, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Flowers a small 3 to 5mm but typically of the pea type.


13th July 2011, Blackleach Country Park, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Sepal teeth roughly equal in length un-like Smooth Tare where the upper two are shorter than the rest.


24th July 2011, Blackleach Country Park, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Sepal teeth roughly similar length.


13th July 2011, Blackleach Country Park, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Between 2 to 7 flowers in a spike-like head unlike Smooth Tare which has only 1-2, or Slender Tares 1-4.


13th July 2011, Blackleach Country Park, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Flowers mainly white with bluish tinges un-like Slender Tare which is bluer or Smooth Tare which is more lilac-blue.


13th July 2011, Blackleach Country Park, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Leaflets here look to be in pairs, but they aren't really.


13th July 2011, Blackleach Country Park, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Stems decidedly all square (not mentioned in some books). Note leaflets top right which alternate and not in pairs.


13th July 2011, Blackleach Country Park, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
It entwines its tendrils around other plants in order to clamber amidst and over them. The tendrils are branched, un-like those of Smooth Tare or Slender Tare which are un-branched.

Easily mistaken for : other Tares such as:

  • Smooth Tare (Vicia tetrasperma), but that has larger 4-8mm flowers (rather than 3-5mm) that are a clearer lilac colour and with only 1-2 flowers in the head (rather than 2-7) and leaves with fewer sets of leaflets (3-6 sets rather than the 6-8 pairs of alternate leaves of Hairy Tare). Smooth Tare also has un-branched tendrils, and is smooth and without hairs.
  • Slender Tare (Vicia parviflora), but that has bluer flowers that are longer at 6-9mm long, larger than those of both Hairy Tare and Smooth Tare, flowers with 1-4 in the head (rather than 2-7) and leaves with 2-4 pairs of leaflets (rather than 6-8 sets) and the leaflets are markedly longer than those of Hairy Tare.

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Distribution
family8Pea family8Fabaceae
BSBI maps
genus8Vicia
Vicia
(Vetches)

HAIRY TARE

Vicia hirsuta

Pea [Fabaceae]

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