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Greuteria Amirahmadi & Kaz. Osaloo

Genus composed of 2 species, endemic of North Africa,  shrubs or subshrubs: G. argyreum and G. membranacea, with woody stems and branches. These species were included in the genus Hedysarum L., until recently they have been separated based on important molecular and morphological differences. Other species, which remain in the genus Hedysarum L., with woody root, stems sometimes slightly lignified at the base and which sometimes exceed 50 cm in height, are:

G. coronarium L. is a perennial herb up to 50-70(100) cm in height; it can sometimes have a woody base with half a dozen upright stems. Leaves with (1)2-5 pairs of leaflets, 6-25(35) mm wide, the terminal leaflet larger than the lateral ones; flowers in dense racemes, with 20-30 flowers, that can be up to 20-30 cm long. Corolla very showy, of a ± intense red-purple colour, with a standard 15-18 mm, notably longer than the keel. Fruit lomentaceous, straight, with 2-4 segments, glabrous but covered with yellowish curved spines. It has been widely cultivated as a forage plant in the Mediterranean (Italian sainfoin, French honeysuckle) so it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between natural and cultivated populations. It is known from Morocco (Tangier, Rif, Gareb, Imzouren, Mamora), Algeria, Tunisia and Libya and northern Egypt (Pyramids of Giza).

G. boveanum Bunge ex Basiner, is a pubescent subshrub, up to 50 cm in height, with stems highly branched, erect or ascending. Leaves with (3)5-13 pairs of small leaflets (4-13 × 2-5 mm). Inflorescences racemose, usually lax, with 7-20 flowers, violet-purple, with standard 7-13 mm, noticeably shorter than the keel. Fruit lomentaceous, straight, with a dense indumentum of short hairs and segments with or without yellow spines. It is a plant of the western Mediterranean (Spain, France, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia). In North Africa the following subspecies seem to be present: subsp. europaeum Guitt. & Kerguélen (Morocco Guercif) and more widely distributed, subsp. boveanum (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia).

They are rare species, with a limited distribution. Currently, they have not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Updated by: J. Charco & H. Sainz.