Family |
Fabaceae
Genista monspessulana
(L.) L.A.S.Johnson
Genista monspessulana (L.) L.A.S.Johnson
(First published in Contr. New South Wales Natl. Herb. 3: 98 (1962); basionym Cytisus monspessulanus L., first published in Sp. Pl.: 740 (1753); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. XCII nº 1; 1970, as Cytisus syriacus Boiss. & C.I.Blanche)
• Life-form & habit : Shrub with numerous stems, forming regular, very floriferous tufts, 50–120 cm tall; stems striate, softly hispid.
• Leaves : Leaves shortly petiolate and hispid; leaflets oblong-obovate, obtuse, slightly mucronate, 1–2 cm long, somewhat folded and more or less conduplicate.
• Inflorescence & flowers : Flowers yellow, arranged in dense capituliform racemes; pedicels hispid, each with a small bract; calyx 4 mm long, silky-hairy; standard externally silky-hairy.
• Fruit : Pod linear, hispid, 2–3 cm long, 3–4 mm wide, straight or somewhat arched, slightly torulose.
• Phenology : Flowers from March to April.
• Habitat & elevation : Rocky places and open wooded habitats in the lower and middle mountain belts.
• Lebanese distribution : Recorded by Mouterde from around Bikfaya, Qornayel and Nahr-el-Safa. The plate was drawn from material from Bikfaya and Qornayel.
• Native range : Albania, Algeria, Azores, Corse, East Aegean Is., France, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Morocco, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe.
• Introduced range : Argentina Northeast, Cape Provinces, Chile Central, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Mexico Central, New South Wales, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Norfolk Is., Oregon, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Washington, Western Australia.
• Diagnostic remarks : Treated by Mouterde as Cytisus syriacus Boiss. & C.I.Blanche, and described as endemic, but POWO currently places Cytisus syriacus among the heterotypic synonyms of Genista monspessulana (L.) L.A.S.Johnson. In Mouterde’s key, it is separated from Cytisus cassius by its many-stemmed habit, softer hispid indumentum, more floriferous tufted appearance, dense capituliform racemes and linear, hispid, more or less torulose pods.