Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepsis comosa, 3 plants in 7 cm square pots
Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepsis comosa)
An attractive plant generally found growing on chalk and limestone areas where competition from other vegetation is low, Kidney Vetch, has small yellow, and sometimes orange-red flowers. The leaves are silky and white underneath. It can cope with dry conditions and is found on chalk grassland, cliffs and limestone areas, and around the coast of most of Britain.
The name is derived from the shape of the seed pods which are U shaped, hanging a bit like a string of horseshoes.
Biodiversity value
Flowering from around May to June, Horseshoe Vetch is a great source of nectar for adult butterflies and other pollinating insects, as well as being the essential foodplant of caterpillars of the rare Chalk Hill Blue (Lysandra coridon) and Adonis Blue (Lysandra bellargus) of the south of England (alternative names sometimes seen are Polyommatus coridon and Polyommatus bellargus). It is also eaten by the Dingy Skipper.
Growing on chalk soils, Horseshoe Vetch, like Kidney Vetch, faces a constant challenge from aggressive agricultural grasses and other species, and in the absence of gentle grazing of the grass by herbivores may need our help to become established.
Your Purchase
You are purchasing 3 Horseshow Vetch plants (the native species not an agricultural cultivar) in 7 cm square pots that have been grown by us at our nursery in Cupar, Fife,