Ononis spinosa L.

Perennial shrubs, 30-60 cm tall, with long and short glan­dular hairs, often arranged in 2 opposite lines. Stem erect, branched at base, spiny. Leaves 3-foliolate, sometimes 1-folio­late toward tip of stem; terminal leaflet oblong-elliptic, 5-10 × 3-5 mm, base rounded, margins irregularly serrulate, apex acute. Flowers in lax, leafy racemes, solitary at nodes, subses­sile. Calyx 7-8 mm; teeth longer than tube. Corolla pale red to mauve, 10-20 mm. Legume oblong to rhomboid, 8-9 mm, equal to or slightly exserted from persistent calyx, apex beaked. Seeds 2 or 3, brown to black, tuberculate. Fl. and fr. Apr-Sep.

Chalk and limestone grassland, stony hillsides and open pine forests, mainly on dry stony ground. Solitary or forming close stands in meadows, field borders, scrub, and sometimes riverbanks; growing on clayey, calcareous or chernozem soil.

The young shoots are cooked as a vegetable. The roots are chewed for their liquorice like flavour. The flowers are eaten raw as a decoration on salads.

Can be grown by cuttings, divisions or seedlings. Seeds needs scarification and soaking.