Scientific name: Astragalus danicus Retz.
Common name: Purple Milk-Vetch
Description
Habit: Perennial.
Stems: Semi-erect or straggling, to 30 cm long.
Leaves: Pinnate, with 13-27 small leaflets.
Flowers: Purple, zygomorphic, hermaphrodite, 15-18 mm across, in stalked, terminal, short racemes; sepals 5, fused into a tube; petals 5, forming 2 free wings, 2 are fused to form lower keel and 1 conceals the stamens and carpel; stamens 9 fused and 1 free; carpel 1, style 1.
Fruits: A legume pod, 7-9 mm, ovoid, hairy, flattened.
Habitat: Stabilised sand-dunes, rough grazing areas, also found on limestone and on cliff-tops.
Distribution: Very local.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: Yes