Family: Fabaceae Horse-shoe Vetch Hippocrepis comosa Flowering time: April - July. Perennial Most frequent in the south of England in species-rich short calcareous grasslands and on cliffs. Rare in Wales, absent from Scotland and Ireland Flowerheads with whorls of 5-8 clear yellow flowers followed by sinuous seedpods which break into horseshoe-shaped segments. Pinnate leaves have 4-5 pairs of side leaflets, terminal leaflet, 2 stipules but no tendrils. Height 5-20cm. The only food plant for caterpillars of Adonis Blue Similar: Common Bird's-foot-trefoil, Lotus corniculatus

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Horse-shoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa and Adonis Blue, Lysandra bellargus
The Purbecks, Dorset. August 2008