Large Yellow Restharrow

A little bush not yet 20 centimeters high, it is easy to miss it. Only when you take the time to really look you notice the Yellow Restharrow (Ononis natrix) has beautiful flowers.



When the butterfly-like flowers open they show fine lines in red on yellow. The greyish down in the picture are the glandulous hairs that cover leaves and stem; if you touch the plant it sticks on your fingers. And you'll discover the smell, a bit nasty. Maybe the rabbits don't like it either!









Restharrows are perennial plants with long and tough roots, farmers don't like to find them in their fields.

Narrowleaf Crimson Clover

Most clovers are rather small, but this one is higher than the surrounding vegetation. Everything is long with the Narrowleaf Crimson Clover (Trifolium angustifolium). It has trifoliate leaves, like other clovers, but here the leaves are really long and thin. They are covered with very short downy hairs to protect the plant from drought. A necessary precaution because it grows in dry, often sandy, places.

The flower heads are also elongated, up to ten centimeters.

After flowering they are really decorative!

Small Broomrape

Their season is nearly over, but it is still easy to find Broomrapes. They are parasites without chlorophyl that live on the roots of other plants. Here is the Small Broomrape (Orobanche minor), surrounded by its host, Black Medick (Medicago lupulina) with small yellow flower heads. The Small Broomrape also 'eats' other clover-like plants.



Most stalks in this image are already dead, but the one at the right is still alive and in flower.