Sarcopoterium spinosum (L.) Spach
Poterium spinosum L., Sanguisorba spinosa (L.) Bertol.
Eng.: Thorny burnet, prickly burnet, brushwood. Spa.: Pimpinela espinosa. Fre.: Pimpinelle épineuse. Ara.: Bilan, natch.
Small shrub, spiny, up to 0.7 m in height, generally hemispherical in shape, usually very intricate. Branching dense with tomentose-lanate young shoots, lateral branches without leaves, ending in a double spine (dichotomous spine), 5-10 mm. Leaves alternate, with stipule, imparipinnate, with 9-15 oval leaflets, 4-6 mm, dentate-serrated, with revolute margin, glabrescent on the upper side, tomentose-lanate on the underside. Inflorescence spiciform, short (1-3 cm), globose or oblong, dense. Flowers diclinous, tetramerous, female flowers on the upper part of the inflorescence, and male flowers towards the bottom part. Calyx green with 4 teeth. Petals absent. Ovary with fimbriate stigma (feathery), red-violet. Stamens 10-30. Fruit baccate, red, with 1(2) seeds.
Flowering:
February to April.
Fruiting:
April to June.
Habitat:
Thickets and rocky outcrops in thermophilic areas, from sea level to about 400(500) m. In semiarid to subhumid bioclimate, mainly on thermomediterranean floor.
Distribution:
Central-eastern Mediterranean species (Sardinia, S Italy, Greece, Turkey and the Middle East). In North Africa it is only known in Tunisia (on the islands of Zembra, near Cape Bon, and Djerba) and in Libya (where it becomes common in some parts of the Akhdar Massif).
Conservation status:
Rare species in North Africa. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In Tunisia it is included as Poterium spinosum in its List of native species that are rare and threatened with extinction (Order of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, 19-July-2006).