Horseshoe vetch Hippocrepis comosa

Features

It is a species of perennial flowering plant belonging to the genus Hippocrepis in the family Fabaceae.

Species	Perrenial
Living space	Meadow
Size	up to 20 cm

Description

It grows up to 20 cm high and has a creeping stem that is woody at the bottom. The leaves are ovate to lanceolate and once pinnately divided. The edge is smooth. The flowers are yellow, butterfly-shaped, up to 1 cm long and grouped in inflorescences in which 4 to 8 flowers are collected. They drive at the top of about 10 cm long stems. The fruits develop in horseshoe-shaped pods. The plant thrives on limestone rocky slopes and barren meadows throughout Europe, especially in the south and in the Alpine world, where it blooms from May to September.