KILDARE WILDLIFE WATCH: Unique plant helps enrich soil with nitrogen

The lush green leaves in our communities are beginning to turn to their autumn colours of yellows, orange, rust and red as they enter their annual winter hibernation phase.

This week I was cutting a wildflower meadow that was allowed to grow over the summer in the wildlife gardens at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre and to my surprise a bright yellow flower was blooming.

Meadow Vetchling (Peasairín buí as Gaeilge) is a native wildflower which blooms each year from May through to August, so identifying it this late in the season was surprising, however it is possible that the mild weather so far this autumn has resulted in the plant's late bloom.

The flowers of Meadow Vetchling are not like your typical flowers you think of with petals arranged in a whorl. Instead the five yellow petals are fused at the base creating a butterfly shape. The flowers are also held in clusters along a hairless stem, the older flowers are found closer to the base with the newest at the top.

The leaves are described as lanceolate meaning they are longer than wide and are spear shaped. A few weeks ago I introduced the seed heads of Bog Asphodel, which I partnered with a Rhizobium bacteria, that had the ability to fix nitrgen. Meadow Vetcling is a grassland plant that also shares its roots with this nitrogen fixing bacteria, so for farmers it is a good plant to have growing in your grassland as it will improve soil fertility similar to clovers. While you might not observe the blooms of Meadow Vetcling this late in the season in your community, you can watch for this yellow flower in grasslands, ditches and hedgerows next year.

More than likely you will observe the seed pods of Meadow Vetchling with each storing 4-5 seeds, and as the seeds mature the seed pods will blacken. You can learn more about Meadow Vetchling and indeed many wildflowers by visiting www.wildflowersofireland.net.

Don’t forget if you come across a wildlife species that you would like help identifying I would be happy to help, contact me at [email protected].