Re: Ononis spinosa
Moira wrote:
>My ancient British flora('52) says of O. spinosa "An erect or ascending
>perennial 30-60cm. Similar to O. repens, but not rhizomatous. Stems
>usually spiny, not rooting at the base."
>
>I think this answers your question pretty definitely.
>
>Interestingly, I found these two species are actually native to Britain,
>but I also found descriptions of them in a book of Medit. wildflowers,
>so they seem to be very wide-ranging and obviously pretty hardy.
Three species of Ononis are found around the cliffs, fields and in
dune slacks around here:
O. repens is by far the commonest with it's somewhat lax, hairy stems
that root wherever they touch the ground - I know of one patch that
must be a good 6 feet across. It is a native of chalk downlands, old
dune slacks and other areas where the soil is light and alkaline.
Occasionally you can see it as a shoreline plant.
O. spinosa is altogether more upright, taller and a richer green with
stronger 'cleaner' coloured flowers. It is not invasive like its more
rampant cousin and make quite a reasonably compact plant. Some might
consider it to be attractive even. It tends to prefer richer, heavier
soils and is rarely seen in light, calcareous soils.
Finally there's the elusive, diminutive, annual O. reclinata with
tiny, fugitive flowers and is now exceptionally rare being only found
in 3 locations - Berry Head a couple of miles from here, the Gower
Peninsula in Wales and the Channel Islands. It does not appear to be
present anywhere on mainland Europe.
David Poole
TORQUAY UK
