Purple vetch

Astragalus hypoglottis (treated by many floras as a synonym of Astragalus danicus), the purple milk-vetch, is a low perennial herb in the Fabaceae family native to Europe and subarctic Russia, with scattered occurrences extending into the Alps and central Ukraine. Plants form trailing or ascending stems 10 to 35 centimetres long arising from a slender taproot and woody base. The leaves are pinnately compound with 13 to 27 small oblong-elliptic leaflets covered in appressed white hairs. Flowering occurs in early summer; the inflorescence is a compact, ovoid to globose raceme of 10 to 30 violet-purple to bluish papilionaceous flowers, each about one centimetre long. Fruits are short, dark, hairy pods. The species inhabits short, unimproved calcareous grassland, sand dunes, and coastal cliffs, where it cannot compete with taller vegetation and is restricted to open turf.