Coronilla ramosissima (Ball) Ball
C. juncea subsp. ramosissima Ball
Eng.: Rush-like scorpion-vetch. Spa.: Coronilla. Ara.: Ayatt, zaza. Tam.: Atartag.
Shrub up to 2 m in height, hermaphrodite, erect, with long, thin stems with a distinctly woody base. Stems more woody and less junciform than C. juncea. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, persistent, with flattened petiole, and 5-7 leaflets of 5-28 × 1-5 mm, subequal. Obovate-spatulate leaflets, entire, with rounded apex, mucronate or not, subsessile, glabrous and glaucescent on both sides and generally somewhat fleshy. Inflorescences in axillary heads, on a peduncle longer than the leaf from whose axil they are born, with 2-10 flowers that start from the same point. Calyx 2.2-3.3 mm, campanulate, with upper lip longer, ending in 2 small teeth, and lower lip with 3 teeth or lobes broadly oval-triangular, glabrous, greenish. Corolla 7-15 mm, papilionoid, yellow, with wings longer than the standard and the keel, with a claw or basal tail of the petals almost entirely included in the calyx. Androecium subdiadelphous. Ovary cylindrical, dilated at the apex, glabrous, with a curved style at the base and discoid stigma. Pod 3-5 cm, with little or no marked segments, cylindrical, straight and hanging, Seeds ovoid, brown, with a smooth surface.
Flowering:
March to July; however it can be considerably earlier or later depending on the region.
Fruiting:
May to August.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets and rocky areas, plains and low mountains, from almost sea level to about 1,000 m altitude, in semi-arid to sub-humid environments.
Distribution:
Endemic to SW Morocco (Central-Western High Atlas, Sus valley, Western Anti-Atlas and Mid-Atlantic Morocco).
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species, in principle it is not considered threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Livre Rouge de la flore vasculaire du Maroc (Fennane, 2021) it has been considered as Near Threatened (NT).