''Retama monosperma'', the bridal broom or bridal veil

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 ...

, is a flowering bush species in the genus ''

Retama ''Retama'' (also known as ''rotem'', ) 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 Euro ...

'', native to the parts of the Mediterranean Basin (Algeria, Morocco, Portugal and Spain in the west, Egypt, the East Aegean Islands and Greece in the east). It has been introduced elsewhere. ''Retama monosperma'' forms

root nodule Root nodules are found on the roots of plants, primarily legumes, that form a symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Under nitrogen-limiting conditions, capable plants form a symbiotic relationship with a host-specific strain of bacteria known ...

s with ''

Ensifer fredii ''Ensifer fredii'' is a nitrogen fixing bacterium. It is a fast-growing root nodule bacterium. ''Ensifer fredii'' exhibits a broad host-range and is able to nodulate both determinant hosts, such as soy, as well as indeterminate hosts including th ...

''. The larvae of the moths '' Phyllonorycter hesperiella'' and '' Phyllonorycter spartocytisi'' feed on ''R. monosperma''. The seeds 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. Fifteen other

quinolizidine Quinolizidine (norlupinane, octahydro-2''H''-quinolizine) is a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound. Some alkaloids (e.g. cytisine and sparteine) are derivatives of quinolizidine. Quinolizidine alkaloids Quinolizidine alkaloids, such as ...

and three dipiperidine alkaloids can also be isolated from different parts of the plant. In particular, the presence of (+)-

sparteine Sparteine is a class 1a antiarrhythmic agent and sodium channel blocker. It is an alkaloid and can be extracted from scotch broom. It is the predominant alkaloid in '' Lupinus mutabilis'', and is thought to chelate the bivalent metals calcium a ...

, α- and β- isosparteine, (+)-17- oxosparteine, (-)- lupanine, 5,6-dehydrolupanine, (-)- anagyrine, (-)- N-methylcytisine and (+)- ammodendrine can be detected.Alkaloids from Retama monosperma ssp. eumonosperma. Touati D, Allain P, Pellecuer J, Fkih-Tetouani S and Agoumi A, Fitoterapia, 1996, volume 67, number 1, pages 49-52,

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q966251 Genisteae Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Taxa named by Pierre Edmond Boissier Flora of Algeria Flora of Morocco Flora of Portugal Flora of Spain Flora of Egypt Flora of the East Aegean Islands Flora of Greece