winter vetchVicia villosa ssp. varia
Fabaceae
There are simply too many vetches for me to figure out. Can you ID? These pics were taken within 10 yards of each other. I'm fairly sure this is a non-native. Last year during our anniversary hike, this was the predominant blooming species on the mesa at Garland Ranch; this year that title goes to the blue-eyed grass.
ps 03/01/11 - I originally posted this as unknown vetch. While looking up other plants for a recent hike at Garland Ranch, I came across this vetch. I've made the corrections to the ID above. Erica in the comments below was correct in that this is what is commonly called a hairy vetch. Interestingly enough, the other subspecies (V. villosa ssp. villosa) is the only one actually hairy, and the one shown above is sometimes called a smooth vetch.
ps 03/01/11 - I originally posted this as unknown vetch. While looking up other plants for a recent hike at Garland Ranch, I came across this vetch. I've made the corrections to the ID above. Erica in the comments below was correct in that this is what is commonly called a hairy vetch. Interestingly enough, the other subspecies (V. villosa ssp. villosa) is the only one actually hairy, and the one shown above is sometimes called a smooth vetch.
