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Wikipedia / Ononis

Ononis is a genus of 80–90 species of perennial herbs and subshrubs in the legume family Fabaceae. The members of this genus are called restharrows; an old spelling "wrestharrows" is also recorded from 1965. as some species grow as weeds on arable lands where their tough roots would catch and stop the harrow. The genus is native to Europe, northern and eastern Africa, and western and central Asia.

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 the grey pug and Coleophora ononidella (which feeds exclusively on O. arvensis).

Species of Ononis

The genus Ononis includes the following species accepted by the Plants of the World Online database (POWO), with the addition of one species (O. repens) accepted by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland and others (see further below):

The status of Ononis repens is disputed; POWO treats it as a subspecies of O. spinosa (as O. spinosa subsp. procurrens (Wallr.) Briq.), while accepting O. arvensis as a separate species. However, in genetic analysis (in which both O. repens and O. arvensis were treated as subspecies of O. spinosa, as O. s. subsp. maritima and O. s. subsp. arvensis, respectively), O. repens recovered as more closely related to O. arvensis, than to O. spinosa. It remains widely accepted as a species, particularly in Great Britain and Ireland, where it is the most widespread and abundant species in the genus.

Nothospecies

References