Horseshoe Vetch
Horseshoe Vetch amid low brambles, Dorset
Side view of flowerhead
Flowerhead from above
Leaf with leaflets
Hippocrepis comosa
Fabaceae
May to July
It grows mainly in the South, and is locally abundant in the
far Northwest, the East Midlands and the far Southeast.
It is absent from the far Southwest.
See the BSBI distribution map for Horseshoe Vetch
It grows in dry, calcareous, pastures, rocks and cliffs.
Horseshoe Vetch is a native, sprawling, nitrogen-fixing,
perennial herb, growing up to 40cm.
Flowers are bright yellow (up to 1cm), with up to 8 in a
flattish-head.
Flowers are not tinged with orange or red as in Bird's-foot
Trefoil.
Pods have several seeds and are broken up into 3 to 6
horseshoe-shaped segments.
Leaves are up to 8cm long, and made up of paired leaflets.
The stem is woody at the base.
Previous page: Horse-radish
Next page: Hound's-tongue
Horseshoe Vetch amid low brambles, Dorset
Side view of flowerhead
Flowerhead from above
Leaf with leaflets
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