Family |
Fabaceae
Ononis natrix
L.
Ononis natrix L.
(Sp. Pl.: 717, 1753; Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 235; Pl. XCII nº 2; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Entire plant glandular-viscous; stems erect or ascending, 50–100 cm tall.
• Leaves: Long-petiolate, trifoliolate, the upper sometimes sessile; leaflets oblong, denticulate.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Flowers borne in leafy terminal racemes; peduncles long, one-flowered, often aristate. Calyx lobes lanceolate, much longer than the tube, finally spreading-reflexed, c. 6 mm. Corolla longer than calyx, c. 1 cm, yellow, standard often streaked with reddish-brown.
• Fruit: Pods linear, pendulous, hispid with spreading hairs, 1–2 cm long, blackish at maturity.
• Phenology: Flowers throughout the year.
• Habitat & elevation: Disturbed ground and ruderal habitats; widespread from coastal plains to mountains.
• Lebanese distribution: Beirut, Tripoli, ‘Abey, Jamhour, Bikfaya, Ghazir, Saïda, Ehden, Qannoubine, Cedars of Hadeth, Bazoun, ‘Aïn Zehalta, Bcharré, Zahlé, Ksara, Masna‘a.
• Syrian distribution: Lattaquié, Qadmous, Massiaf, Aleppo, Rastane, Serghaya, Ouadi el-Qarn, Souq-Ouadi-Barada, Jabal Qasyoun, Soueida, Chahba, Ouadi Qandil.
• Native range: Algeria, Baleares, Canary Islands, Corse, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Lebanon–Syria, Libya, Morocco, NW. Balkan Peninsula, Palestine, Portugal, Sardegna, Sinai, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Western Sahara (POWO).
• Introduced into: Iraq (POWO).