Lotus rectus L.
Dorycnium rectum (L.) Ser., Bonjeanea recta (L.) Rchb.
Eng.: Greater badassi. Spa.: Unciana, trébol real, emborrachacabras. Fre.: Dorycnie dressée, dorycnie à tiges raides.
Perennial herbaceous plant, sometimes somewhat woody at the base, up to 0.8(2.5) m in height, hermaphrodite, with stems predominantely herbaceous, upright and/or sometimes somewhat climbing, almost all parts highly villous. Stems and old branches brown-greenish, glabrescent, with scattered hairs, erect, which fall gradually. Branchlets green, densely villous, hirsute. Leaves alternate, petiolate, trifoliolate, with foliaceous stipules; leaflets subequal, obovate, with rounded and acuminate tip, attenuated at the base, subsessile, green and glabrescent or villous on both sides. Inflorescence capituliform, pedunculate, terminal, very dense, with 20-40 pedicellate flowers, with villous pedicels. Calyx campanulate, with 5 subequal teeth, linear-lanceolate, red, hirsute-villous. Corolla 5-8 mm, papilionoid, glabrescent, with white or pinkinsh wings and standard, and purplish keel. Androecium diadelphous, with the free part of the filaments somewhat shorter than the tube. Ovary subsessile, cylindrical, glabrous. Pod 1-2 cm, oblong-linear, cylindrical, red, glabrous, dehiscent, with 2-6 seeds. Seeds 1-1.3(1.5) × 0.7-1.2 mm, ovoid or globose, brown, with dark macules.
Flowering:
April to July.
Fruiting:
July to September.
Habitat:
Forests and thickets with high edaphic humidity, usually along rivers, streams, lakes, irrigation canals, etc.
Distribution:
Mainly on the Mediterranean region. In North Africa it is a rare species, but widely distributed throughout the less dry Mediterranean area. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It also grows subspontaneously and naturalised in some Saharan oases.
Conservation status:
A rare but widely distributed species, not considered threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
