Dorycnium pentaphyllum Scop.
D. suffruticosum (Vill.) Bonnier & Layens, Lotus dorycnium L.
Eng.: Badassi. Spa.: Cañamillo, mijediega, socarrello, escobilla. Fre.: Dorycnie à cinq feuilles, badasse à cinq feuilles.
Subshrub up to 1 m in height, usually with stems and branches clearly woody, ascending or decumbent, glabrescent or with very short applied hairs, silvery. Leaves alternate, sessile, trifoliolate, with stipules as large as the leaflets, forming groups of (3)4-5 linear leaflets, sericeous on both sides, increasing in size towards the top of the plant. Inflorescence capituliform, axillary or terminal, pedunculated (peduncle 1-5 cm), with 4-15 flowers, usually with a basal foliose bract, with 1-2 leaflets. Flowers white or slightly pinkish, 4-7 mm, with sericeous pedicels, 1-2.5 mm. Calyx 2-3.5 mm, campanulate, bilabiate, with tube somewhat longer than the lips, brown or purplish. Androecium diadelphous. Ovary cylindrical, subsessile, glabrous. Pod 3-4.5 × 2-3 mm, ovoid or ellipsoid, finely striated, glabrous, brown or purple, usually with 1 seed. Seeds c. 2 mm, ovoid, punctate, brown, maculate.
Flowering:
March to June.
Fruiting:
May to September.
Habitat:
Mediterranean forests and thickets, indifferent to edaphic moisture. Subruderal.
Distribution:
A western Mediterranean species well represented across southern Europe. In North Africa it is much rarer than the previous species. It grows in the mountains and semiarid pastures of steppic areas of Algeria (mountains of Bu Saada, Djelfa, Sebdou and Daya) and in some other areas with more subhumid and humid conditions, like near Skikda. In Tunisia it has been cited in the Mogods Mountains (in Sidi el Hadj Hassen).
Observations:
D. pentaphyllum is fairly variable in size and hairiness, presenting different ecotypes related to its high ecological amplitude, mainly related to edaphic moisture.
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species, it is not considered threatened. Currently, it have not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.