Restharrow (known as Cammock in parts of Britain) is a small shrub of the Pea family, partly creeping and partly erect. The flowers are pink and grow from the leaf axils. The leaflets are oval and slightly toothed. The stem and the young shoots are hairy; sometimes there are soft spines.
Restharrow is meant to indicate poor or neglected land. It grows in dry waste places and on sandhills and is often found in the south-east of the country, more rarely in the south, west and north. It is absent from many midland counties.
The rootstock of Restharrow often creeps under ground, and is so strong that it will "wrest the harrow" from its proper direction. Hence the name of the plant. This is the only type of Restharrow native to Ireland; Spiny Restharrow (Ononis spinosa) is not found here.
Flowering time is July to September.
Restharrow grows in Britain and much of Europe, east to Estonia and south to Bulgaria, often on calcareous soils.