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Fabaceae
Kidney Vetch
Anthyllis vulneraria
Healing and resilience.
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Genus
- Anthyllis
- Native to
- Europe, Mediterranean, Western Asia
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer
- Type
- perennial herb
- Height
- 0.5-2 ft
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- dry, chalky, well-drained
- Water
- low
- Hardiness
- 4-8
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- Kidney vetch was historically applied as a wound-healing poultice — the species name 'vulneraria' comes from Latin for 'wound.'
- It is the sole larval food plant of the small blue butterfly (Cupido minimus), one of Britain's tiniest butterflies.
- The flowers have an inflated calyx that persists and turns papery after the petals fall, creating a decorative seed pod.
- It is one of the first colonizers of disturbed chalk and limestone grasslands, improving soil for other plants.
- Kidney vetch comes in many color forms ranging from cream through yellow to orange, red, and even bicolor varieties.
Color meanings
0
healing
1
resilience
2
adaptability