Prostrate to erect spineless plant to 1.5 metres though often less. Leaves oval to linear-lanceolate. Flowers 8 to 15 mm in leafy, stalked spikes, standard equalling keel. Pod narrow-oblong, hairless.

This is a rare plant in VC55 and therefore a specimen should not be taken.  Take detailed field photos and submit to NatureSpot as soon as possible; and if you think you have found it in a new location, inform the County Recorder as soon you can. (RPR)

Grassy habitats, meadows, road verges and banks.

Flowers July to September.

Deciduous subshrub.

Widespread but very local in much of England and Wales, and scarce elsewhere in Britain.

Now rare in Leicestershire and Rutland and decreasing, probably due to habitat loss and degradation.

In the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi and Evans 1988) it was found in 14 of the 617 tetrads, and in the Flora of Rutland (Messenger 1971) in  6 tetrads.

It is listed on the current VC55 Rare Plant Register (Hall and Woodward 2022) as Locally Rare (i.e. present in less than 3 sites)