Retama
| Retama | |
|---|---|
_02.jpg) |
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| White flowers of Retama raetam | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Tribe: | Genisteae |
| Genus: |
Retama Raf. |
| Species | |
|
4–14; see text. |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
4–14; see text.
Retama is a genus of flowering bushes in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the broom tribe, Genisteae. Retama broom bushes are found natively in North Africa, the Levant and some parts of southern Europe. Retama raetam and Retama monosperma have white flowers, while Retama sphaerocarpa has yellow flowers. It remains an open question in taxonomy whether the members of the Retama genus should be incorporated into the genus Genista (see Genisteae).
The species contain cytisine, a toxic alkaloid.
In the Spanish language the name "retama" is in common use for broom bushes in general, includingthe genus Retama.
The name Lygos was once used for Retama.Michel Adanson described and classified the genus referencing to the Greek plant “lygos” and to Pedanius Dioscorides. In ancient Greek language lygos (λύγος) was the name of the plant Vitex agnus-castus (chaste tree) or willow or other plants with pliant twigs. The same word (in some cases Latinized as Lygus) was used in botany and zoology for various taxonomic groups as a component of names, e.g. Lygodysodea, Lygisyum, Lygistum, Lygodesmia etc.
Retama comprises the following species:
The status of the following species is unresolved:
Female bee (Colletes sp.) collecting nectar from a Retama raetam flower, Holot Mash'abim, Northern Negev, Israel
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