Irish wildflowers BSBI map

Spiny Restharrow, Ononis spinosa
Photographs: Co. Waterford

Spiny Restharrow
Ononis spinosa
Family: Fabaceae

Flowering June-September. Perennial. Introduced.

Pea-like purplish-pink flowers with their wings shorter than the keel and the calyx shorter than the seedpod. Narrow, pointed leaflets. Erect, bushy growth, the hairy stems tipped with sharp spines. Rhizomes are absent. Height to 70cm. Identified by Paul Green

Probably introduced with grass seed with the only Irish records being from verges of the city by-pass in Co. Waterford and from Dublin.

Similar: Restharrow, Ononis repens. Prostrate, native

Spiny Restharrow, Ononis spinosa

Spiny Restharrow, Ononis spinosa
Spiny Restharrow, Ononis spinosa

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