T. hirtum (rose clover) is a robust, densely hairy annual. Sessile, spherical flower heads up to 2cm across and produced in spring and summer. The pink or purple petals are longer than the feathery calyx lobes and persist after flowering. Seed head breaks up easily at maturity into individual units that are spread by wind. A widely-cultivated pasture species in the 1960s, useful on sandy, acid soils, but not tolerant of heavy grazing and currently of little agricultural importance. A widespread weed of roadside, creeklines, rock outcrops, wasteland and disturbed woodlands from Geraldton to Ravensthorpe. Native of southern Europe and North Africa.

Trifolium hirtum, RR

T. repens (white clover) is a perennial with both creeping and erect stems; the creeping stems root at the nodes, reaching up to 50cm long. The leaves are hairless and borne on long leaf stalks, with the leaflets sometimes marked with a white V-shaped band. Flowers in spring and summer, producing a spherical head of white flowers, on a stalk longer than the leaves. Frequently cultivated as a pasture legume, but also widely naturalised on roadsides, in swamps, around granite rocks, in wasteland and lawns between Perth and Albany. Native to temperate Europe and Asia.

T. repens , RR

T. scabrum (rough clover) is a small, hairy annual with rigid stems up to 20cm long. It has sessile spherical heads of white flowers produced in the leaf axils in spring. The calyx is hairy, with spiny lobes that are recurved at pod maturity. A weed of roadsides, wasteland and tuart woodlands from Perth to Busselton. Native to Europe and western Asia.

T. scabrum , PH

T. subterraneum (sub-clover, subterranean clover) is the most important pasture legume in temperate Australia. Numerous varieties exist, but all are hairy, prostrate annuals with stems up to 25cm long and leaflets with various dark or pale markings. It flowers in winter and spring, producing a small head of white to pink flowers. Mature pods are forced into the ground and are protected by the enlarged remains of the sterile flowers which form a burr. Widely naturalised on roadsides and wasteland, around granite rocks and in swamps from Geraldton to Esperance. Native to the Mediterranean.

T. subterraneum , SE

T. tomentosum (woolly clover) is readily distinguished from other clovers by the spongy, off-white, spherical fruiting heads. It is a sprawling, hairless (or slightly hairy) annual with pink flowers (which twist 180 degrees to face up) in dense spherical heads in spring, carried on stalks that are much shorter than the leaves. The calyx enlarges to produce the woolly white heads, that later turn brown. It is very widespread in pastures, especially on waterlogged, moderately saline soils, and is tolerant of grazing. It forms an important component of some wheatbelt pastures but a less important component of high-rainfall pastures. Widely naturalised from Geraldton to Esperance on roadsides, in woodlands, creeklines and around granite rocks. Native to the Mediterranean.

T. tomentosum , PM

T. vesiculosum (arrowleaf clover) is a distinctive, tall-growing clover to 60cm high, with large tapering pink to white flower heads at the ends of stems, and clear V-shaped markings on the spear-head or diamond-shaped leaflets. Seed heads become bronze coloured at maturity. Newly entering cultivation as a deep-rooted, drought-tolerant pasture or fodder plant for hay production or rotational grazing in medium to high rainfall zones, and likely to naturalise on sandy soils. Flowers in spring and summer. Native to southern Europe and south-west Asia. Other clovers have been introduced to Western Australia, and could be encountered as weeds. Consult a specialist text for details. The following have been recorded as naturalised at least once: T. cernuum (drooping flowered clover); T. cherleri (cupped clover); T. hybridum (alsike clover); T. incarnatum (crimson clover); T. lappaceum (lappa clover); T. ligusticum (ligurian clover); T. micranthum (slender suckling clover); T. ornithopodioides (birdsfoot fenugreek); T. pilulare (pill clover); T. pratense (red clover); T. resupinatum (shaftal clover); T. spumosum (bladder clover); T. stellatum (star clover); T. striatum (knotted clover) and T. suffocatum (suffocated clover).

T. vesiculosum , RR

Ulex europaeus (gorse, furze) DP is a dense, spiny shrub with showy, golden-yellow flowers in autumn, which are reported to smell of coconut. A garden escape on wasteland and roadsides in the Albany area. Native to Europe. Imported as a hedge plant, it is a major weed in Tasmania and New Zealand.

Ulex europaeus , PH

Vicia (vetches) are annuals or perennials often climbing by means of leaf tendrils. They have pinnate leaves and the flowers are produced from the leaf axils. Most were introduced as fodder plants. V. benghalensis (purple vetch) is a climbing annual, with stems to 1m long. The flowers are produced in racemes of up to 12 flowers, during early summer. The individual flowers are 1-2cm long, purple, and the calyx is pouched at the base. Found on roadsides from Muchea to Manjimup and inland to Borden. V. hirsuta (hairy vetch) is a climbing annual with slender, angular stems. The flowers, produced in late spring and summer, are bluish-white or pink and are in racemes of up to 12 flowers, with each flower 2-3mm long. Naturalised in disturbed wetlands and on roadsides from Perth to Albany. Native to Europe and western Asia.V. monantha (spurred vetch) is a sprawling, hairless twiner with purple flowers. Widely distributed in the eastern wheatbelt and Goldfields on roadsides and in mallee shrubland. Native to southern Europe, North Africa, south-east and central Asia.

Vicia benghalensis , RR

V. sativa (common vetch) is a scrambling annual with almost stalkless flowers in pairs in the leaf axils. The flowers are purple and pink and are produced in spring. Widespread in paddocks, disturbed areas such as wasteland and roadsides, wetlands and woodlands from Perth to Augusta. Native to Europe.
Vigna radiata (mung bean, green gram) is a trailing or climbing perennial. The stems and trefoil leaves are roughly-hairy. The yellow flowers are borne in the axils of the leaves and are produced in March. Naturalised in disturbed areas throughout the Kimberley. A widespread tropical weed, possibly originating from India.V. trilobata is a sprawling herb to 30cm with shiny, three-lobed trefoil leaves and slender, long (up to 30cm) flower stalks carrying a cluster of small yellow flowers. Naturalising away from cultivated areas along roadsides and drains around Kununurra. Native to Asia.  

V. sativa , RC