A member of the pea family (legumes), Common Vetch is able to make its own nitrates, a special nutrient essential for healthy plant growth. This makes it useful as a soil-fertilising plant and is often also used as livestock fodder. It grows well in grassland, farmland, waste ground and roadside verges, as well as coastal habitats, such as sand dunes. Groups of one or two pink flowers appear between May and September.