Family |
Fabaceae
Adenocarpus complicatus
(L.) J.Gay
Adenocarpus complicatus (L.) J. Gay
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 231, Pl. XCI nº 2; 1966)
Life‑form & habit : Strongly woody, dome‑forming shrub 40 – 120 cm tall; branchlets rigid, spreading and divaricate; stems and young shoots hispid with spreading, flexuous white‑to‑yellowish hairs.
Leaves : Trifoliolate; leaflets sessile, ovate‑oblong to lanceolate‑linear, variably pubescent.
Calyx : Bilabiate, hairy or sometimes glabrous, often dotted with stalked glands; lower lip longer, its central lobe projecting beyond the two lateral lobes.
Corolla : Bright yellow; standard petal hispid, matched in length by the glabrous keel.
Fruit : Linear pod 3 – 4 cm × ≈ 5 mm, tapering at the base, brown when ripe, glabrous yet densely coated with minute black stalked glands; contains 4 – 5 seeds.
Flowering period : May – July.
Habitat : Degraded woodlands and rocky ground on non‑calcareous soils.
Native range : Western Mediterranean to the Near East; in Lebanon found from Bikfaya, Dhour Choueir, Salima, Beskinta and Mayrouba up to Jabal Kneissé, Col de Zahlé, ‘Aïn Saouaʿir, Cedars of Hadeth and the northern flanks of Jabal Sannine, with further records across Syria and Palestine.