Common Kidney-Vetch

Anthyllis vulneraria reaches 5–40 centimetres (2.0–15.7 in) 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 10–20 millimetres (0.39–0.79 in) 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.

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 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in elevation.