Botanical name: Anthyllis vulneraria
Folk names: Lady’s fingers, lamb’s toe

Type: Perennial (short-lived)

Wildlife: Pollen and nectar for bees. Nectar for butterflies and sole caterpillar food plant of the small blue butterfly, which is unlikely to visit your garden but try planting close to a patch of long grass on your lawn and wait and see…. Also a caterpillar plant for moths.

Flowers: June to September

Decorative merit: Small, yellow, red-tipped flowers with silky-hairy bracts creating a woolly appearance. Stems grow up to 60cm tall, with pinnate leaves in narrow leaflets, silky and white underneath.

Where: Sun. Gravel / dry / herb patches, front of borders and wild patches with free-draining soil where it can spread as ground cover.

Folklore: Do you have any stories about this native plant?

Pea relative of birdsfoot trefoil, red clover and white clover. ‍

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