''Anthyllis vulneraria'', the common kidneyvetch, kidney vetch
or woundwort
is a
medicinal plant
Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection ag ...
native to Europe. The name ''vulneraria'' means "wound healer".
Description
''Anthyllis vulneraria'' reaches of 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
food plant of the
small blue butterfly larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...
e and the
leaf miner
A leaf miner is any one of numerous species of insects in which the larval stage lives in, and eats, the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths ( Lepidoptera), sawflies (Symphyta, the mother clade of ...
, ''
Aproaerema anthyllidella''.
Distribution and habitat
This plant is sporadic throughout Europe, from
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...
to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
, in Asia Minor up to
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Tu ...
, in North Africa and in
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...
. It is naturalized in North America. It prefers the dry grasslands and rocky environments with calcareous soil, up to 3000 m of altitude.
Subspecies
This species includes numerous subspecies (which some authors elevate to the role of separate species). A very incomplete list is as follows:
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''abyssinica''
(Sagorski) Cullen
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''alpestris''
(Kit.) Asch. et Gr.
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''baldensis''
(Kerner) Becker
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''busambarensis''
(Lojac.) Pign.
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''carpatica''
(Pant.) Nyman
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''colorata''
(Juz.) Tzvelev (synonym: ''Anthyllis colorata''
Juz.)
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''forondae''
(Sennen) Cullen
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''iberica''
(W.Becker) Jalas
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''maura''
(Beck) Lindb.
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''polyphylla''
(D.C.) Nyman
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''polyphylla''
(D.C.) Nyman × ''affinis''
Brittinger ex Kerner
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''praepropera''
(Kerner) Bornm.
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''praepropera''
(Kerner) Bornm. × ''adriatica''
Beck
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''pulchella''
(Vis.) Bornm.
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''vulneraria''
L.
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''vulnerarioides''
(All.) Arcang.
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''vulnerarioides''
(All.) Arcang. × ''bonjeanii''
Beck
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''weldeniana''
(Rchb.) Cullen
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''weldeniana''
(Rchb.) Cullen × ''tricolor''
Vukot.
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''weldeniana''
(Rchb.) Cullen × ''versicolor''
Sagorski
* ''A. vulneraria'' subsp. ''valesiaca''
(Becker) Guyot
Gallery
Illustration_Anthyllis_vulneraria0.jpg, 1885 illustration[illustration from Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany]
Anthyllis vulneraria - Bombus sylvarum - Keila.jpg, Kidney vetch is providing pollen and nectar for a wide range of insects, particularly bumblebees
Fabaceae - Anthyllis vulneraria-2.JPG, Inflorescences
Fabaceae - Anthyllis vulneraria-3.JPG, Leaves
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q126256
vulneraria
Medicinal plants of Africa
Medicinal plants of Asia
Medicinal plants of Europe
Flora of Europe
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus