Ononis

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Ononis >

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Read about Ononis in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Ononis (old Greek name). Leguminosae. Rest- Harrow. Good plants for borders and rock-gardens, with clover-like leaves. Annual, biennial or perennial, often shrubby; glabrous or villous: Lvs. usually pinnately foliolate, the stipules attached to the petiole: fls. papilionaceous, yellow, purple, pink or rarely white, solitary, 2-3 in the axils or in peduncled racemes; calyx bell-shaped, 5-parted, deeply cut, narrow; standard large, striped; stamens united in a tube, the members sometimes partly free: pod usually swollen, few-seeded.—Some 70 species, Canaries, Medit. region, to Cent, and N. Eu. A few of the perennial species are more or less in cult. They thrive under usual treatment; prop, by division and by seeds. Sometimes the Lvs. are 1-foliolate. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

? Ononis
Ononis spinosa
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Faboideae Tribe: Trifolieae Genus: Ononis
Species
111 species and subspecies, see text
Ref: ILDIS Version 6.05

Ononis is a large genus of perennial herbs and shrubs from the legume family Fabaceae. The members of this genus are often called restharrows as some species are arable weeds whose tough stems would stop the harrow. They are natively distributed in Europe.

In herbalism restharrow is used to treat bladder and kidney problems and water retention.

The active ingredients in restharrow are essential oils, flavonoid-glycosides, and tannins.

Restharrows are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Grey Pug and Coleophora ononidella (feeds exclusively on O. arvensis).

Species of Ononis

• O. alopecuroides, Foxtail Restharrow
• O. arvensis, Field Restharrow
• O. natrix, Large Yellow Restharrow
• O. pusilla
• O. reclinata, Small Restharrow
• O. repens, Common Restharrow
• O. rotundifolia
• O. speciosa
• O. spinosa, Spiny Restharrow

Ononis natrix, flowers and foliage

External links

• Medicinal uses of O. arvensis in Armenia