Family |
Fabaceae
Genista lydia
Boiss.
Genista lydia Boiss.
(Diagn. Pl. Orient. 2: 8; 1843 – Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CLVII nº 1; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Low, much-branched deciduous shrub forming dense, rounded cushions 20–50 cm tall. Branches slender, rush-like, prominently green, ribbed, glabrous, and photosynthetic, giving the plant a characteristic wiry appearance.
• Leaves: Very small, simple, alternate, narrowly linear to obovate, 3–6 mm long, early deciduous; young leaves present only briefly in spring, leaving the green stems to perform photosynthesis for the rest of the year.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Solitary or in few-flowered axillary clusters along the young stems. Calyx tubular, bilabiate, 5–6 mm long, glabrous; upper teeth short, lower lip longer and acuminate. Corolla bright yellow; standard broad, slightly reflexed; wings and keel shorter. Pedicels short, articulated near the base.
• Fruit: Pod linear, 10–20 mm long, glabrous, slightly compressed, containing 4–6 smooth brown seeds.
• Phenology: Flowers from April to June; fruits mature in summer.
• Habitat & elevation: Dry rocky slopes, phrygana, and open scrub on limestone or serpentine soils, typically on sunny exposures between 500 and 1 800 m.
• Lebanese distribution: Reported by Mouterde from the lower and middle mountain zones of Mount Lebanon — particularly around Barouk, Deir el-Qamar, Falougha, and Dahr el-Baïdar; also recorded in the Beqaa foothills near Zahlé and in the Anti-Lebanon.
• Native range: Bulgaria, Greece, Lebanon, Syria, NW. Balkan Pen., Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe (POWO)
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: A characteristic species of the Anatolian–Levantine flora, morphologically close to Genista acanthoclada but distinguished by its non-spiny, wiry stems and early-deciduous leaves. The type locality lies in western Anatolia (Lydia), but Levantine populations are morphologically consistent and fully natural. Sometimes used ornamentally for its profuse golden bloom.