Colutea atlantica Browicz
C. arborescens L. subsp. atlantica (Browicz) Ponert., C. arborescens auct. Afr. N. non L.
Eng.: Bladder-senna. Spa.: Espantalobos, garbancillo, sonajas. Fre.: Baguenaudier. Ara.: Geluta, qeluta, kabbura.
Shrub, up to 3(5) m in height, deciduous, hermaphrodite, very ramose, with flexuous branches, hollow, upright at first, then extended, often pendulous. Trunk sometimes well defined, with bark that peels off into laciniae (as also happens in old branches), exposing a greyish-brown opaque surface underneath. Young branchlets greenish-whitish, tomentose, with whitish short, dense and intertwined hairs. Leaves 3-5(6) cm, alternate, imparipinnate, with stipules c. 2 mm, triangular-ovate, pubescent and with 7-11 leaflets, 10-16 mm, shortly petiolulate, entire, broadly elliptic, ovate-elliptical or obovate-elliptic, with apex and base ± rounded, or apex slightly notched, glabrous or glabrescent, deep green on the upper side and slightly duller on the underside. Inflorescences in axillary racemes, sparse, with 1-4(6) flowers, ± the same length as the axillary leaf. Calyx 5-7 mm, campanulate, with 5 small subequal teeth, shorter than the tube, greenish-pubescent. Corolla 17-20 mm, papilionoid, yellow, with very wide standard, with red venation and a characteristic pattern in the centre of its inner side; wings shorter than the keel. Androecium diadelphous. Ovary tomentose. Pod 4-6 × 2-3 cm, swollen, pendant, 2-3 times longer than the calyx, with membranous walls, glabrous, reddish-brown, with marked veins, eventually dehiscent, with numerous seeds. Seeds 3-4 mm, in 2 rows, reniform, brown.
Flowering:
March to June.
Fruiting:
June to September.
Habitat:
Forests and thickets of low and medium mountains, especially between 500 and 2,000 m, preferring calcareous substrates. In dry to subhumid bioclimate, on thermomediterranean and mesomediterranean floors.
Distribution:
North African endemic. In North Africa it had been traditionally considered as C. arborescens L., until Browicz separated it in 1963. It is a rare species (probably, as it happens in Spain with C. hispanica Talavera & Arista, because it is highly palatable to herbivores), but widely distributed across the non-steppic Mediterranean area of Morocco, including the western Anti-Atlas, in Algeria (littoral and sublittoral regions, Tlemcen mountains, Saharan Atlas, Belezma and Djelfa mountains and Aures Massif) and in NW Tunisia (summits of the nearby mountains to El Krib, Jenduba and Ghardimau, and Jebel Bargu).
Conservation status:
A rare but widely distributed species, not considered threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.