''Retama'' (also known as ''rotem'', he, רותם) is a genus of flowering bushes in the

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock for ...

family,

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

. It belongs to the

broom A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...

tribe,

Genisteae Genisteae is a tribe of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants in the subfamily Faboideae of the family Fabaceae. It includes a number of well-known plants including broom, lupine (lupin), gorse and laburnum. The tribe's greatest diversity is in ...

. ''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 genus ''Retama'' should be incorporated into the genus ''

Genista Genista is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, native to open habitats such as moorland and pasture in Europe and western Asia. They include species commonly called broom, though the term may also refer to other genera, i ...

'' (see

). The species contain

cytisine Cytisine, also known as baptitoxine, cytisinicline, or sophorine, is an alkaloid that occurs naturally in several plant genera, such as '' Laburnum'' and ''Cytisus'' of the family Fabaceae. It has been used medically to help with smoking cessa ...

, a toxic alkaloid. In the Spanish language the name ''retama'' is commonly used for broom bushes in general, including the genus ''Retama''.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Retama'' was erected in 1838 by

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; October 22, 1783September 18, 1840) was a French 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimat ...

, the genus name being derived from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

name. Rafinesque noted that the genus had been included in other genera, including '' Spartium'', '' Cytisus'' and ''

'', but he regarded it as distinct. The name ''Lygos'' was once used for ''Retama''; it is now a

rejected name A conserved name or ''nomen conservandum'' (plural ''nomina conservanda'', abbreviated as ''nom. cons.'') is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. That is, the name is retained, even though it violates one or more rules whic ...

(''nomen rejiciendum'') in the

International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...

Michel Adanson Michel Adanson (7 April 17273 August 1806) was an 18th-century French botanist and naturalist who traveled to Senegal to study flora and fauna. He proposed a "natural system" of taxonomy distinct from the binomial system forwarded by Linnaeus. ...

described and classified the genus referencing to the Greek plant "lygos" and to

Pedanius Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of '' De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vo ...

. In the ancient Greek language, ''lygos'' (λύγος) was the name of the plant ''

Vitex agnus-castus ''Vitex agnus-castus'', also called vitex, chaste tree (or chastetree), chasteberry, Abraham's balm, lilac chastetree, or monk's pepper, is a native of the Mediterranean region. It is one of the few temperate-zone species of '' Vitex'', which is ...

'' (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'' is traditionally placed in the tribe

, and in the subfamily Papilionoideae in the 2017 classification of the family Fabaceae (Leguminosae).

Species

The number of species in the genus and their

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: *Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) *Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthrop ...

varies. ,

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

, based on the African Plant Database, accepted the following species: *'' Retama dasycarpa'' Coss. *'' Retama monosperma'' (L.) Boiss. *'' Retama raetam'' (Forssk.) Webb & Berthel. *'' Retama rhodorhizoides'' (Webb & Berthel.) Webb & Berthel. *'' Retama sphaerocarpa'' (L.) Boiss. ''R. rhodorhizoides'' is included in ''R. monosperma'' by some sources, and has been identified as ''R. raetam'' by others. When recognized as a separate species, it is restricted to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...

Species names with uncertain taxonomic status

The status of the following species is unresolved: * ''Retama albiflora'' Raf. * ''Retama angulata'' Griseb. * ''Retama atlantica'' Pomel * ''Retama bovei'' (Spach) Webb * ''Retama hipponensis'' Webb * ''Retama lutea'' Raf. * ''Retama microcarpa'' Webb * ''Retama parviflora'' (Vent.) Webb * ''Retama recutita'' Webb ex Bolle * ''Retama webbii'' Webb File:Colletes on Retama 1.jpg, Female bee (''

Colletes The genus ''Colletes'' (plasterer bees) is a large group of ground-nesting bees of the family Colletidae. They occur primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. They tend to be solitary, but sometimes nest close together in aggregations. Species i ...

'' sp.) collecting nectar from a ''Retama raetam'' flower, Holot Mash'abim, Northern Negev,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Cultural significance

''Retama'' may be mentioned in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

, in I Kings 19:4, Psalms 120:4, and Job 30:4, under the name ''rotem'' (Heb. רוֹתֶם/רֹתֶם). According to multiple Jewish biblical commentators, ''Retama'' is used in the Bible as a symbol of slander, as, when burnt, its embers will remain hot long after they turn black. However, this translation is contested, with other commentators translating the word as "

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arc ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2699268, from2=Q17430082 Genisteae Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Fabaceae genera