The name Restharrow  came from the ability of the tough stems of this shrub to making ploughing difficult - "arrest the harrow". Restharrow is a native perennial of dry grassland and sand dunes and can spread by creeping runners. It is found throughout much of the British Isles, but is rare in northern Scotland, northern Ireland, and central Wales. It's pinkish "pea" flowers are easily confused with those of Common Vetch. To separate these look for the totally different leaves and the whitish areas in the Restharrow flower - Common Vetch flowers are more uniformly coloured.

Spiny Restharrow (Ononis spinosa) looks very similar, but has "no-nonsense" sharp spines, and is found in south-east-England. Small Restharrow (Ononis reclinata) is a small version of Restharrow which is extremely rare, found only in a few coastal locations in south-west Scotland and south-west Wales.

Flower: Little pinkish flowers about 10 - 20 mm across. (Finger Photo)
Leaves: little, oval, toothed
Habitat: Dry grassland, sand dunes
Height to about 50 cm or sprawling
Typically flowering: July - September