Kidney vetch
Anthyllis vulneraria
Family · Fabaceae · Harmless
The legume with yellow or orange heads set on a collar of cut green bracts, very common in mountain pastures. Its name, in every language, comes from its use on wounds.
Uplands · Fields and pasture · Dunes and sand · Roadsides and waste ground
Also known aswoundwort, lady's fingers
How to tell it
A dense yellow or orange flower head, each flower with an inflated hairy calyx, set on green bracts divided like fingers. Leaves with a terminal leaflet much larger than the side ones.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
Traditional external use on wounds across Europe, and quality fodder on poor limestone soils. It is an essential plant for several mountain butterflies.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.