| Ononis repens | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Ononis |
| Species: | O. repens |
| Binomial name | |
| Ononis repens | |
Ononis repens, the common restharrow, is a flowering plant species in the bean family Fabaceae. The name is synonym of Ononis spinosa subsp. procurrens. [1]
It is a prostrate (maximum height 60cm) woody perennial, spreading by rhizomes. [2] It has hairy stems and small oval leaves with toothed edges. Leaflets are less than 3 times as long as wide. It occasionally has soft, weak spines, but never hard spines like those of Ononis spinosa . [3] The leaves are covered in glandular hairs which give a resinous smell on bruising. Plants are hermaphroditic. [4] The zygomorphic flowers are pink and unscented, 15–20mm, blooming from June to September. [5]
It is found by the sea shore, on cliffs and dunes and is also common in grasslands and dry hill pastures in chalk or limestone areas, over light, well-drained soils. It may occasionally grow on roadside verges or beside railways. [6] [7] [8]
The species is native to Europe including the UK and Ireland. Its distribution spreads as far south as Morocco and as far east as Poland. It has declined in some parts of Britain but populations are generally stable. Although the species is very widespread, its distribution is often localised, due to its preference for particular soil conditions [9] [10]
A rare species of moth, Aplasta ononaria is specialised to lay its eggs only on common restharrow. [11]
Ononis repens is pollinated by bees. [12] [13]
Like other species in the order Fabales, Ononis repens fixes nitrogen into soil from the air, promoting the growth of other plants. [14]
Ononis repens is related to liquorice and its roots have a very similar flavour. A liquorice flavour drink can be made by soaking the roots in cold water, and historically the young shoots have been used as a vegetable, boiled or in salads. [15]
The English common name 'restharrow' comes from the plant's propensity to stop horse-drawn farming implements, with its hard, woody roots. [16] The word 'ononis' or 'anonis' has been used for restharrow since classical Greece and Rome and has been suggested to stem from the Ancient Greek onos for donkey because it was used to feed donkeys. [17] [18] The species epithet repens is Latin for creeping, referring to the growth habit of the plant.
Liquorice or licorice is the common name of Glycyrrhiza glabra, a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring is extracted.
Ranunculus repens, the creeping buttercup, is a flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe, Asia and northwestern Africa. It is also called creeping crowfoot and sitfast.
Ononis is a large genus of perennial herbs and shrubs from the legume family Fabaceae. The members of this genus are often called restharrows as some species grow as weeds on arable lands whose tough stems would stop the harrow. They are natively distributed in Europe.
Strychnos is a genus of flowering plants, belonging to the family Loganiaceae. The genus includes about 100 accepted species of trees and lianas, and more than 200 that are as yet unresolved. The genus is widely distributed around the world's tropics and is noted for the presence of poisonous indole alkaloids in the roots, stems and leaves of various species. Among these alkaloids are the well-known and virulent poisons strychnine and curare.
Elymus repens, commonly known as couch grass, is a very common perennial species of grass native to most of Europe, Asia, the Arctic biome, and northwest Africa. It has been brought into other mild northern climates for forage or erosion control, but is often considered a weed.
Anacamptis morio, the green-winged orchid or green-veined orchid, is a flowering plant of the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It usually has purple flowers, and is found in Europe and the Middle East.
Ononis spinosa is a flowering plant belonging to the family Fabaceae, that is commonly known as spiny restharrow or just restharrow. It is found throughout much of Europe including Britain, but seldom as far north as Scotland.
Plantago major, the broadleaf plantain, white man's footprint, waybread, or greater plantain, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. The plant is native to Eurasia.
Plaster's Green Meadows is a 4.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Nempnett Thrubwell, Bath and North East Somerset, notified in 1989.
Sand dune ecology describes the biological and physico-chemical interactions that are a characteristic of sand dunes.
Lithospermum canescens, or the hoary puccoon is a perennial herb endemic to eastern North America. The plant grows in a variety of habitats. It has golden yellow flowers which bloom from April to May.
Bursaria spinosa is a small tree or shrub in the family Pittosporaceae. The species occurs mainly in the eastern and southern half of Australia and not in Western Australia or the Northern Territory. Reaching 10 m (35 ft) high, it bears fragrant white flowers at any time of year but particularly in summer. A common understorey shrub of eucalyptus woodland, it colonises disturbed areas and fallow farmland. It is an important food plant for several species of butterflies and moths, particularly those of the genus Paralucia, and native bees.
Lolium multiflorum is a ryegrass native to temperate Europe, though its precise native range is unknown.
Marasmarcha lunaedactyla, also known as the crescent plume is a moth of the family Pterophoridae found in most of Europe. It was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1811.
Kosířské lomy is a national nature monument in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic.
Ononis natrix, the yellow restharrow or shrubby rest-harrow, is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae.
Salix repens, the creeping willow, is a small, shrubby species of willow in the family Salicaceae, growing up to 1.5 metres in height. Found amongst sand dunes and heathlands, it is a polymorphic species, with a wide range of variants. In the UK, at least, these range from small, prostrate, hairless plants at one end of the spectrum to taller, erect or ascending silky-leaved shrubs at the other. This wide variation in form has resulted in numerous synonyms.
Clinopodium menthifolium, commonly known as the wood calamint or woodland calamint, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is found throughout southern and central Europe from the United Kingdom and east as far as temperate parts of Asia, and as south as North Africa. It grows up to 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in elevation.
Scythris siccella is a moth of the family Scythrididae first described by the German entomologist Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1839, found in Europe.
Trachusa byssina is a species of bees within the genus Trachusa.