Purple milk-vetch

Astragalus danicus, the purple milk-vetch, is a low perennial herb of the legume family (Fabaceae), typically growing to about 30 cm tall from a deep taproot. The pinnate leaves are 3–7 cm long with 13–27 small, oblong, hairy leaflets 5–12 mm long. Flowers are pea-like, 15–18 mm long, blue to purple (rarely white), borne in compact, almost head-like racemes on long peduncles. The fruit is a small ovoid pod covered in dense white hairs. The species occurs across much of Europe from Ireland and subarctic Russia south to the Alps and central Ukraine, and is characteristic of short, unimproved limestone or chalk grassland, sand dunes and sea cliffs. It is intolerant of acidic or fertilised soils and competition from taller vegetation.