Grass Vetchling-
This item is from the website of the Hull Natural History Society, with permission
Yesterday morning I visited the Argyle Street brownfield site which I know as the KC stadium railway triangle. Before I left, I did a bit of litter picking, and whilst doing this I found a pretty little vetch of unusual colour. I took a photo and used iNaturalist for identification and it came up with Grass Vetchling. At home I looked it up and there were no vc61 records so I doubted this identification.
I met Gabrielle at Argyle Street this morning to show her. She was happy to confirm that it was Lathyrus nissolia, a plant regarded as 'regionally extinct' in the South-east Yorkshire (vc61) Rare Plant Register, 2015 edition.
The plants are delicate and very grass-like, with no leaflets or tendrils and the pods are very elongated, with crimson flowers in pairs on long stalks. They are growing on a relatively large patch in the grassland in the middle of the site. How long would this species have been present in the site? We wondered if its grass-like leaves had been overlooked and botanist's visits had not coincided with its flowering season?
Africa Gómez, 12 June 2023