Ononis spinosa
Spiny restharrow, bullock’s bane, ox-stopper: its most evocative nickname comes from the farming world of the past—its roots were so deep and tenacious that they literally blocked the plough and brought draught oxen to a halt. A small, understated perennial with remarkably formidable roots.
Characteristics:
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Small veined pink flowers: pink papilionaceous corollas striped with purple, from June to September.
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Spiny growth: stems armed with thorns, forming a low clump 30 to 60 cm tall.
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Exceptional rooting: its roots descend very deeply, making it practically indestructible and valuable for stabilizing soil.
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Very hardy: down to -20 °C.
Precautions:
- Its stems bear sharp thorns: wear gloves when handling it or weeding nearby.
Sowing advice:
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Exposure: full sun.
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Soil: light, dry, sandy or stony, moderately calcareous and well drained. As a legume, it fixes its own nitrogen and needs no fertilizer. It thrives in dry meadows and sunny banks where few plants can survive.
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Method: 4 to 6 weeks of cold stratification is recommended (damp sand in the refrigerator). Then sow in a deep pot or directly in place, in spring or autumn. Be patient: germination is slow, taking 3 to 5 weeks.
Planting advice:
- Transplant it while young into its permanent position, using a deep pot: its taproot makes any later transplanting impossible.
Care advice:
- None once established. No watering or pruning: this is a plant that looks after itself for years.
Beneficial companions:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its flowers are visited by bees and especially bumblebees, which are strong enough to force open the closed corolla.
- It is a host plant for the caterpillars of several butterflies, particularly blues.
- Its deep roots remarkably stabilize light soils and sloping ground while enriching them with nitrogen.
Uses:
- Natural meadows, dry rock gardens, banks to be stabilized, and borders of medicinal plant gardens. A traditional medicinal plant. See our medicinal plants to sow.
Symbolism:
A symbol of resilience and protection, owing to its defensive thorns and tenacious roots that stopped ploughs—a plant that does not yield.
Harvesting your own seeds:
Leave a few flowers to form their small pods, then harvest them when brown and dry—with gloves—before they open. See how to store your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose reproducible, non-hybrid varieties, tested for their germination rate, carefully sorted and packaged, with no chemical treatment. Our conviction: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
Sow the plant that stopped ploughs, and stabilize your banks for the long term.
