Rank Species | Genus Anthyllis Higher classification Anthyllis | |
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Similar Anthyllis, Lotus corniculatus, Legumes, Galium verum, Ononis spinosa | ||
Kidney vetch anthyllis vulneraria woundwort 2013 06 09
Anthyllis vulneraria (common kidneyvetch, kidney vetch, woundwort) is a medicinal plant native to Europe. The name vulneraria means "wound healer".
Contents
- Kidney vetch anthyllis vulneraria woundwort 2013 06 09
- Common kidneyvetch anthyllis vulneraria 2012 06 17
- Subspecies
- Description
- Distribution and habitat
- References
Common kidneyvetch anthyllis vulneraria 2012 06 17
Subspecies
This species includes numerous subspecies (which some authors elevate to the role of separate species). A very incomplete list is as follows:
Description
Anthyllis vulneraria reaches 5–40 centimetres (2.0–15.7 in) of height. The stem is simple or more often branched. The leaves are imparipinnate, glabrous or with scattered hairs on the upper face and silky hairs on the underside. The flower heads are spherical in shape and 10–20 millimetres (0.39–0.79 in) long. The flower are yellow in almost all sub-species, with the typical irregular shape of the flowers of legumes. Flowering takes place between June and September. The fruit is a legume. The fruits ripening takes place from July to October.
Kidney vetch is the food plant of the small blue butterfly larvae and the leaf miner, Aproaerema anthyllidella.
Distribution and habitat
This plant is sporadic throughout Europe, from Iceland to the Mediterranean, in Asia Minor up to Iran, in North Africa and in Ethiopia. It is naturalized in North America. It prefers the dry grasslands and rocky environments with calcareous soil, up to 3000 m of altitude.