Kidney Vetch

Anthyllis vulneraria

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Fabales

Family:

Fabaceae (Pea)

Also in this family:

Alsike Clover, Birdsfoot, Bird's-foot Trefoil, Bitter Vetchling, Black Medick, Bladder Senna, Broad Bean, Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea, Bush Vetch, Common Broom, Common Gorse, Common Laburnum, Common Restharrow, Common Vetch, Crown Vetch, Dyer's Greenweed, False Acacia, Garden Pea, Goat's Rue, Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil, Hairy Tare, Haresfoot Clover, Hop Trefoil, Horseshoe Vetch, Lesser Trefoil, Lucerne, Meadow Vetchling, Narrow-leaved Vetch, Red Clover, Ribbed Melilot, Russell Lupin, Scottish Laburnum, Smooth Tare, Spanish Gorse, Tall Melilot, Tufted Vetch, Western Gorse, White Clover, White Melilot, Zigzag Clover

Type:

Flower

Maximum Size:

60 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Grassland, meadows, mountains, riverbanks, roadsides, rocks, sea cliffs, seaside, waterside.

Flower:

Yellow, 5 petals

Yellow pea-like flowers which grow in clusters, sometimes orange and very occasionally red. Each flower has a hairy calyx which contains the sepals, making it look woolly. Flowerheads are very attractive to insects such as bees.

Fruit:

Roundish, hairy pea-like pods, reaching a length of 4mm. The pods each contain a single seed.

Leaves:

The leaves are alternate along the stems. Small stipules present. The leaves can be stalked, or stalkless. They are compound leaves, made up of 1 to 5 pairs of leaflets. The terminal leaflet is usually the largest. The oval to linear leaflets are sparsely hairy. Not toothed.

Other Names:

Butter Fingers, Double Pincushion, Fingers and Thumbs, Lady's Fingers, Lamb's Foot, Lambs Toes, Woundwort.

Frequency (UK):

Occasionally seen

Distribution Map

Reproduced by kind permission of the BSBI.

Click to open an Interactive Map