Family |
Fabaceae
Lotus cytisoides
L.
Lotus cytisoides L.
(First published in Sp. Pl.: 776; 1753. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 306; Pl. CXVI nº 1).
• Life-form & habit: Prostrate, shortly pubescent (appressed hairs), green to grey-ashy, with fine, spreading stems 20–50 cm long.
• Leaves: Petiolules short; leaflets obovate-triangular.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Peduncles little exceeding the leaves; calyx with oblong-lanceolate teeth shorter than the tube (lateral teeth somewhat shorter); corolla 6–10 mm, the standard slightly exceeding wings and keel.
• Fruit: Pod linear, straight or slightly arcuate, slender, little compressed, c. 3 cm × 3 mm, slightly glossy.
• Phenology: Flowers March–May.
• Habitat: Rocks close to the sea (littoral rocks and coastal cliffs).
• Lebanese localities: Tyr (Mt), Saïda (Gaill., Mt, Pb), Nahr Damour, Beirut (Mt, Np), Ras Beyrouth (Pb), Jounié (Mt), Bouar (Pb), Ile Nakhl (Gb).
• Syrian localities: Lattaquié (coast), Ras Chamra.
• Native to: Albania, Algeria, Baleares, Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Morocco, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey (POWO).
⚠️ Taxonomic/diagnostic note: Mouterde treats L. cytisoides as distinct from the closely allied L. creticus by its reduced, non-silvered pubescence and shortly petiolulate leaflets; L. creticus is whiter-silvery and bears sessile leaves. See plate and figure in Mouterde (Pl. CXVI) for habit and leaf/flower details.