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

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

family,

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

. It belongs to the

broom A broom (also known 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. It is thus a ...

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 ...

. ''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'' (see

). The species contain cytisine, 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 (; 22 October 178318 September 1840) was a French early 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, ult ...

, the genus name being derived from Hebrew, from the Jewish Bible. Rafinesque noted that the genus had been included in other genera, including '' Spartium'', '' Cytisus'' and '' Genista'', 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 wh ...

(''nomen rejiciendum'') in the

International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN or ICNafp) 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 tho ...

. Michel Adanson described and classified the genus referencing to the Greek plant "lygos" and to

Pedanius Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Medical Material") , a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic pharmacopeia on he ...

. In the 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'' 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 varies. ,

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

, 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 (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. File:Colletes on Retama 1.jpg, Female bee ('' Colletes'' sp.) collecting nectar from a ''Retama raetam'' flower, Holot Mash'abim, Northern Negev,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Cultural significance

''Retama'' may be mentioned in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, 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 as far south ...

References

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