Calicotome rigida (Viv.) Maire & Weiller
Spartium rigidum Viv., C. villosa var. rigida (Viv.) Bég. & A.Vacc., C. spinosa subsp. rigida (Viv.) Maire
Eng.: Thorny broom. Spa.: Jerguén, erguén, cambrón, cambrona. Fre.: Calicotome. Ara.: Gendul, dar chichaan.
Shrub spiny, hermaphrodite, highly branched. Stems and branches striated longitudinally, hairy, greyish. Very spiny branches that ending in large patent spines. Leaves alternate, trifoliolate, briefly petiolate, with obovate leaflets, the middle larger, obtuse, sometimes emarginated at the apex, attenuated at the base and briefly petiolate, entire, appressed-hairy. Inflorescences in glomeruli of 3-6 flowers, surrounded by leaves, with the axis ending in a spine. Calyx truncated-urceolate, hirsute. Corolla papilionoid, yellow, with obovate standard, longer than the remaining pieces, and wings longer than the keel. Androecium monadelphous, with 10 stamens. Glabrescent ovary and acute stigma. Pod oblong or linear-oblong, winged, glabrous.
Flowering:
March to May.
Fruiting:
May to July.
Habitat:
Clearings of forests and bushes in diverse terrain. In a semi-arid to sub-humid environment, thermomediterranean belt. Its altitudinal range goes from the sea level to about 850 m of altitude.
Distribution:
It is endemic to the Jebel Akhdar in Libya, with a distribution area reaching towards the W up to around Benghazi.
Observations:
A basically qualitative description is provided here, tentative until the plant can be better studied.
Conservation status:
Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.