A European native, it grows on chalky grass land and limestone mountain pastures.

It has typically 7-20 zygomorphic flowers, arranged in a raceme, that are variable in colour from pale mauve to white, with hints of green in populations in Kent.

Mostly found on chalky grasslands of Kent on the North Downs, and on limestone outcrops in the Yorkshire Dales.

The Ellenberg values: L=9, F=6, R=9, N=1, S=0 which means that the plant grows in full light, moist, basic, infertile soils with no salinity.

Reproduction is solely by seeds, which have a small oily appendage (known as the elaiosome), which aids dispersal by ants.