The leaves are small, dark green, oval or trefoil, with toothed leaf-like stipules at their base.

Its typical habitat is lime-rich but nutrient-poor grassland on chalk and heavy, calcareous soils.

It involved dipping the finished weapon into a vat containing a special liquid of which spiny restharrow extract was a part (the plant's name in Russian, stalnik, reflects its historical role), then holding the sword aloft while galloping on a horse, allowing it to dry and harden against the wind.

[4] In traditional Russian herbal medicine, it was used as an anodyne, antiphlogistic, aperient, coagulant and diuretic.

[4] A decoction of restharrow was used for eczema and other skin problems, hemorrhoids, chronic constipation, and infections of the anus.