Anthyllis vulneraria
Anthyllis vulneraria, the common kidneyvetch, kidney vetch or woundwort is a medicinal plant native to Europe, northern Africa, and Western Asia. The name vulneraria means "wound healer".
Description
Anthyllis vulneraria reaches in height. The stem is simple or more often branched. The leaves are imparipinnate, glabrous or with scattered hairs on the upper face and silky hairs on the underside. The flower heads are spherical in shape and long. The petals are yellow in most sub-species, but red in A. vulneraria var. coccinea. Flowering takes place between June and September. The fruit is a legume. The fruits ripening takes place from July to October.
Kidney vetch is the Larval [food plants of Lepidoptera|food plant] of the small blue butterfly larvae and the leaf miner, Aproaerema anthyllidella.
Distribution and habitat
This plant is sporadic throughout Europe, from Iceland to the Mediterranean, in Asia Minor up to Iran, in North Africa and in Ethiopia. It is naturalized in North America. It prefers dry grasslands and rocky environments with calcareous soil, up to in elevation.
Subspecies
This species includes numerous subspecies, with 47 accepted by Plants of [the World Online]. Some authors elevate these to the role of separate species.A. vulneraria subsp. abyssinica Cullen – Eritrea and EthiopiaA. vulneraria subsp. ajmasiana – MoroccoA. vulneraria subsp. alpestris Asch. et Gr. – European mountainsA. vulneraria subsp. argyrophylla – southern SpainA. vulneraria subsp. arundana – southern SpainA. vulneraria subsp. baldensis Pignatti ex Kerguélen – southwestern and southern AlpsA. vulneraria subsp. balearica – Balearic IslandsA. vulneraria subsp. boissieri – Crimean Peninsula, Caucasus, Turkey, and northern IranA. vulneraria subsp. borealis – western IcelandA. vulneraria subsp. boscii – northwestern Spain and PyreneesA. vulneraria subsp. bulgarica – Balkan PeninsulaA. vulneraria subsp. busambarensis Pign. – SicilyA. vulneraria subsp. carpatica Nyman – western and central EuropeA. vulneraria subsp. colorata Tzvelev – Baltic states, northwestern and central European RussiaA. vulneraria subsp. corbierei – southwestern Great Britain, Channel Islands, northwestern FranceA. vulneraria subsp. danica – DenmarkA. vulneraria subsp. dertosensis – SpainA. vulneraria subsp. fatmae – northern MoroccoA. vulneraria subsp. forondae Cullen – northeastern Spain, Pyrenees, and southwestern AlpsA. vulneraria subsp. fruticans – MoroccoA. vulneraria subsp. gandogeri – Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands, and northern MoroccoA. vulneraria subsp. guyotii – western AlpsA. vulneraria subsp. hispidissima – north Macedonia, northeastern Greece, and TurkeyA. vulneraria subsp. iberica Jalas – coasts of Western Europe from Belgium to PortugalA. vulneraria subsp. iframensis – MoroccoA. vulneraria var. langei – coasts of Western Europe from Denmark to France and the British IslesA. vulneraria subsp. lapponica – British Isles, Scandinavia, Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, and northern and central RussiaA. vulneraria subsp. maritima – southern Baltic coast to northern and central RussiaA. vulneraria subsp. matris-filiae – southern and eastern Spain, northern MoroccoA. vulneraria subsp. maura Lindb. – North Africa, Iberian Peninsula, Italy and Sicily, Syria and LebanonA. vulneraria subsp. microcephala – SpainA. vulneraria subsp. multifolia – SpainA. vulneraria subsp. nana – Italy A. vulneraria subsp. pinidicola – Greece, Crete, and former YugoslaviaA. vulneraria subsp. polyphylla Nyman – France, Italy, Denmark, Central Europe, northern Balkan Peninsula, European Russia, Caucasus, and TurkeyA. vulneraria subsp. polyphylla Nyman × affinis Brittinger ex KernerA. vulneraria subsp. pseudoarundana – Morocco and southern and eastern SpainA. vulneraria subsp. pulchella Bornm. – southeastern Europe, Crimean Peninsula, Caucasus, and TurkeyA. vulneraria subsp. ''rubriflora''