Anthyllis vulneraria ssp maritima

A perennial from the Fabaceae family, this coastal subspecies is naturally found on cliffs, grasslands, and coastal heaths of the northeastern Atlantic, from the British and Irish coasts to the Spanish Cantabrian coast, in the Basque Country, Cantabria, and Galicia, passing through the Basque corniche and the southwestern coast of France, where it colonizes poor, well-drained substrates, often rocky or sandy, fully exposed to the ocean.

It forms low and spreading clumps, reaching 15 to 30 cm in height, with a dense and covering habit. The foliage is composed of elliptical leaflets, dark green and slightly silky. The flowers, grouped in bilobed capitula characteristic of the genus, display a bright yellow highlighted with orange to russet touches on the silky calyces, this mix of warm tones being particularly striking when the plant clings directly to the limestone rock, a few meters above the surf.

In cultivation, it is accommodating provided it is offered a very well-drained soil, poor to moderately fertile, in full sun. It naturally integrates into rock gardens, walls, and seaside plantings, where it quickly covers the ground.

In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from May to July. In cultivation under a temperate climate, it can bloom from April and extend until August depending on the exposure.