I'll have a pea, Bob!

Onobrychis viciifolia, also known as O. sativa or common sainfoin has been an important forage legume in temperate regions until the 1950s. During the Green Revolution it was replaced by high yielding alfalfa and clover species. Due to its anthelmintic properties the common sainfoin is a natural alternative to drugs to control nematode parasitism in the guts of small ruminants. This is the main reason why O. viciifolia came back to the scientific agenda during the last years.

Sainfoin means "devoured by donkeys" in Greek and apparently if you put donkeys in a field such as the one we walked in this morning, they will greedily eat the sainfoin before anything else.

Pretty, anyway, when you get down to it.