Anthyllis vulneraria

Anthyllis vulneraria, the common kidneyvetch, kidney vetch or woundwort is a medicinal plant native to Europe, northern Africa, and Western Asia. The name vulneraria means "wound healer".

Description

Anthyllis vulneraria reaches in 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 larvae and the leaf miner, Aproaerema anthyllidella.

Distribution and habitat

This plant is sporadic throughout Europe, from Iceland to the Mediterranean, in Asia Minor up to Iran, in North Africa and in Ethiopia. It is naturalized in North America. It prefers dry grasslands and rocky environments with calcareous soil, up to in elevation.

Subspecies

This species includes numerous subspecies, with 47 accepted by Plants of the World Online. Some authors elevate these to the role of separate species.

• A. vulneraria subsp. abyssinica <small>(Sagorski) Cullen</small> – Eritrea and Ethiopia
• A. vulneraria subsp. ajmasiana – Morocco
• A. vulneraria subsp. alpestris <small>(Kit.) Asch. et Gr.</small> – European mountains
• A. vulneraria subsp. argyrophylla – southern Spain
• A. vulneraria subsp. arundana – southern Spain
• A. vulneraria subsp. baldensis <small>(Sagorski) Pignatti ex Kerguélen</small> – southwestern and southern Alps
• A. vulneraria subsp. balearica – Balearic Islands
• A. vulneraria subsp. boissieri – Crimean Peninsula, Caucasus, Turkey, and northern Iran
• A. vulneraria subsp. borealis – western Iceland
• A. vulneraria subsp. boscii – northwestern Spain and Pyrenees
• A. vulneraria subsp. bulgarica – Balkan Peninsula
• A. vulneraria subsp. busambarensis <small>(Lojac.) Pign.</small> – Sicily
• A. vulneraria subsp. carpatica <small>(Pant.) Nyman</small> – western and central Europe
• A. vulneraria subsp. colorata <small>(Juz.) Tzvelev</small> (synonym: Anthyllis colorata <small>Juz.</small>) – Baltic states, northwestern and central European Russia
• A. vulneraria subsp. corbierei – southwestern Great Britain, Channel Islands, northwestern France
• A. vulneraria subsp. danica – Denmark
• A. vulneraria subsp. dertosensis – Spain
• A. vulneraria subsp. fatmae – northern Morocco
• A. vulneraria subsp. forondae <small>(Sennen) Cullen</small> – northeastern Spain, Pyrenees, and southwestern Alps
• A. vulneraria subsp. fruticans – Morocco
• A. vulneraria subsp. gandogeri – Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands, and northern Morocco
• A. vulneraria subsp. guyotii – western Alps
• A. vulneraria subsp. hispidissima – north Macedonia, northeastern Greece, and Turkey
• A. vulneraria subsp. iberica <small>(W.Becker) Jalas</small> – coasts of Western Europe from Belgium to Portugal
• A. vulneraria subsp. iframensis – Morocco
• A. vulneraria var. langei – coasts of Western Europe from Denmark to France and the British Isles
• A. vulneraria subsp. lapponica – British Isles, Scandinavia, Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, and northern and central Russia
• A. vulneraria subsp. maritima – southern Baltic coast to northern and central Russia
• A. vulneraria subsp. matris-filiae – southern and eastern Spain, northern Morocco
• A. vulneraria subsp. maura <small>(Beck) Lindb.</small> – North Africa, Iberian Peninsula, Italy and Sicily, Syria and Lebanon
• A. vulneraria subsp. microcephala – Spain
• A. vulneraria subsp. multifolia – Spain
• A. vulneraria subsp. nana – Italy (central Apennines)
• A. vulneraria subsp. pinidicola – Greece, Crete, and former Yugoslavia
• A. vulneraria subsp. polyphylla <small>(D.C.) Nyman</small> – France, Italy, Denmark, Central Europe, northern Balkan Peninsula, European Russia, Caucasus, and Turkey
• A. vulneraria subsp. polyphylla <small>(D.C.) Nyman</small> × affinis <small>Brittinger ex Kerner</small>
• A. vulneraria subsp. pseudoarundana – Morocco and southern and eastern Spain
• A. vulneraria subsp. pulchella <small>(Vis.) Bornm.</small> – southeastern Europe, Crimean Peninsula, Caucasus, and Turkey
• A. vulneraria subsp. rubriflora