Vella pseudocytisus subsp. glabrata Greuter
Pseudocytisus integrifolius subsp. glabrescens (Coss.) Emb. & Maire, V. pseudocytisus subsp. glabrescens (Coss.) Litard. & Maire, V. glabrescens Coss.
Spa.: Pitano, falso codeso. Ara.: Queçdir, agezdir.
Subshrub, evergreen, with unarmed stems branched from the base, reaching up to 1 m in height in valleys and sheltered slopes, but generally not exceeding 50 cm in areas exposed to wind and grazing, such as in steppic plains. Main stems can be robust, up to 50 cm in height and 3 cm in width. Bark brown, fissured on older stems and branches; smooth and lighter, with numerous leaf scars on young branches. Leaves (7-20 × 2-11 mm) alternate, sessile, obovate or obovate-oblong, obtuse, with entire margin, green or greenish-whitish, with some rigid unicellular hairs, rarely glabrous. On the leaf axil, a fascicle of small leaves frequently appears. Inflorescence in racemes of 6-35 flowers. Calyx with 4 linear-oblong sepals, 4-5 mm, ± acute, green, glabrescent. Corolla with 4 suborbicular petals, longly unguiculate, 12-16 mm long, intense yellow. Fruit a silicle, 7.5-10 mm long, with 2 parts or divisions: the lower part fertile, subglobose, slightly longer than wide, dehiscent in 2 valves, hispid or glabrous; the upper (or stylar) part sterile, ovate-suborbicular, the same length or slightly longer and wider than the lower part. Seeds 2, in the lower part, ovoid or oblong, smooth.
Flowering:
April to June.
Fruiting:
May to July.
Habitat:
Steppic dry and cold terrains. In semiarid to humid bioclimate, mainly on mesomediterranean floor.
Distribution:
The species is distributed across the western Mediterranean; the subspecies is endemic to North Africa. Steppic areas of eastern Morocco (eastern Middle Atlas and High Muluya) and western Algeria (between El Aricha and Chott el Gharbi).
Conservation status:
Locally common species but with a small distribution area. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Livre Rouge de la flore vasculaire du Maroc (Fennane, 2021) it has been considered as Vulnerable (VU).