BITUMINARIA BITUMINOSA

Family and Genus:- See- LEGUMINOSAE

Common Name:- Pitch trefoil, Bitumen pea.

Homotypic Synonyms:- Aspalthium bituminosum, Aspalthium frutescens,

Bipontinia bituminosa, Lotodes bituminosum, Psoralea bituminosa, Psoralea

frutescens, Psoralea punctata, Rhynchodium bituminosum.

Meaning:- Bituminaria/Bituminosa (L) Tarry, smelling of tar.

General description:- Perennial, slightly woody at the base, sparsely appressed-

pubescent throughout. Smelling of bitumen.

Stems:-

1) Suberect, generally 30-70 cm tall.

Leaves:-

1) Trifoliolate, 10-60 x 3-20(-30) mm, long-petiolate, glandular-punctate.

2) Leaflets, entire, mucronulate.

Flowers:-

1) Peduncles, much longer than the subtending leaf.

2) Inflorescence, short, capitate.

3) Calyx tubular-campanulate, the lower tooth somewhat longer than the other 4.

4) Corolla, 15-20 mm, blue or purplish.

Fruit:-

1) Legume, ovoid, 1-seeded, indehiscent, with a falcate beak.

Key features:-

1) Leaflets, entire.

2) Flowers in heads.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Open dry shrubby vegetation, olive groves, open woodland, roadside

thickets and field margins. 0-900 m.

Distribution:- Widespread throughout the Mediterranean. Widespread and common

on Crete.

Flowering time:- Mid-Mar to June.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton