Adenocarpus umbellatus Coss. & Durieu ex Batt.
Spa.: Codeso. Fre.: Adénocarpe. Ara.: Urziz, auzzir, agultín.
Shrub 30-70(100) cm, evergreen, hermaphrodite. Young branches very villous and old branches with light brown rhytidome that peels off in laciniae. Leaves alternate, trifoliolate, arranged very tightly on the stems, with petiole 1-3 mm. Stipules 0.5-1.2 mm, linear-lanceolate, greenish at first and then brown. Leaflets 4-8 mm long, sessile, linear (at least 6 times longer than wide), inrolled at the margins, and villous on both sides. Inflorescences in very short terminal racemes, of 3-6 flowers, umbelliform, with peduncle 2 mm. Calyx 6-7 mm, campanulate, bilabiate, with a short tube, densely villous on the outside. Corolla 13-15 × 9 mm, with standard golden-yellow, silky on the dorsal side, with a long claw, over 3 mm. Keel longer than the wings; wings glabrous and shorter than the standard. Androecium monadelphous, with 10 stamens. Pods 10-17 mm, slightly pedicellate, brown, villous along both sutures, with glandular tubercles on both sides, and dehiscent. Seeds usually absent because they constantly abort.
Flowering:
May to June.
Fruiting:
July to August.
Habitat:
Cleared forests and thickets on littoral cliffs and hills near the coast.
Distribution:
Endemic to Algeria to the shrubby maquis around Oran (Jebel Santon, Canastel, the Andalusians, Busfer, Azoa plateau, Aïn Tinikrent) and other areas on the western, littoral and sublittoral Tellian Atlas.
Observations:
Given than seeds thend to abort, Maire (1987) considered this plant at risk of extinction.
Conservation status:
A relatively 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 Algeria it is included in the List of protected non cultivated flora (Executive Decree 12-03 on 4-Jan-2012).