WildBristol.uk - Discovering Wildlife in Bristol

Common and widespread throughout the UK often as a casual. Habitat includes: Roadside verges, field margins, track-sides, allotments, gardens, wasteland, rough grassland etc. Growing habit: Perennial. First cultivated as a fodder and green manure crop in Britain in the 17th century and was recorded from the wild by 1804. It was most frequently grown in a period of world protein shortage during the 1950s. Its native origin is unknown but probably from S.W. Asia and is naturalised throughout the globe. There are many forms.