Corazoncillo de Lanzarote

Appearance

The Little Heart is a creeping perennial herb, sometimes creeper, that reaches more than one meter in length. It has a woody base, with long basal branches. It is quite abundant.
The stems of this legume are thin, cylindrical, flexible, generally green. The specimens exposed to the sun turn reddish. The leaves are pubescent green-glaucous, composed of three leaflets of 3-6 mm in length, with full borders, and of different shapes. Some are spatule-ovoid and others armored-triangular. They are arranged alternately along the stems.
This plant has striking yellow flowers, about 12 mm. Their calyx is green, and tomentose, and measures about 6 mm. The flowers are arranged in groups of 3 to 5 on the peduncles, a bit arched, at the end of which there are three spatule-like leaflets.
The fruit or legume is a straight, cylindrical sheath, which measures about 2 cm in length. It contains two to ten spheroidal seeds.

Naming

Little Heart of Lanzarote, Corazoncillo de Lanzarote.

Distribution

Present in the Canary Islands, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

Habitat

It endures drought very well. It inhabits stony slopes, and abandoned crop lands.

Uses

Very appreciated for being a plant of high forage value. It contains an acceptable amount of minerals for animal diets, and high protein content.