Coronilla viminalis Salisb.
C. pulchra Ball, C. varia sensu Cav. non L.
Spa.: Coronilla marroquí. Fre.: Coronille faux baguenaudier.
Shrub, up to 2 m in height, hermaphrodite, with very pronounced radial branching, with stems slightly ramose, flexuous, extended, with long internodes, striated, glabrous, with brownish or reddish-brown bark. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, with 4-10 pairs of leaflets, c. 2 × 0.75 cm, subequal, ovate-oblong, entire, with a rounded tip, usually slightly emarginate, rounded at the base, shortly petiolulate, glabrous, green on the upper side and slightly glaucescent on the underside. Inflorescence umbelliform, axillary, pedunculate, with peduncle 10-18 cm and longer than the subtending leaf, sparse, with 3-10 flowers. Calyx campanulate, ending on 5 triangular subequal teeth, whitish-yellowish at first, then with pinkish or brownish-purplish tints, glabrous. Corolla 12-16 mm, papilionoid, pinkish-white. Androecium subdiadelphous. Ovary cylindrical, dilated at the apex, glabrous, with style curved at right angle at the base and discoid stigma. Pod lomentaceous, linear, cylindrical, slightly arched, extended-pendant, with segments not clearly marked. Seeds c. 5 × 1.5 × 1 mm, oblong-ellipsoid, smooth, matt, ochre-orange.
Flowering:
April to June.
Fruiting:
June to August.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets and rocky outcrops, in plains and low mountains (up to 1,500 m), in semiarid to subhumid bioclimate, on inframediterranean to mesomediterranean floors.
Distribution:
It was considered a species endemic to Morocco, but in 2004 it was also found in the Canary Islands. It is scattered almost throughout the whole Moroccan Mediterranean area, very rare in the N, missing from the steppic eastern areas. It is locally abundant in the High Atlas.
Conservation status:
A 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.