Cytisus fontanesii Spach subsp. fontanesii

Spice Flower In the field

Family: LEGUMINOSAE

Genus: Cytisus

Sinònims: Chronanthus biflorus (Desf.) Frodin & Heyw. Genista biflora (Desf.) DC.

Catalan common name: Ginesta. Ginestera.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Castelló. Tarragona.

Distribution in the islands: Ibiza.

General distribution (Phytogeography): West Mediterranean

IUCN Category: VUVulnerable

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Nanophanerophyte.

Habitats: Pine wood and shrubland with rosemary and thyme garigue. Pine woodlands.

Characteristics: A shrubby Leguminosae similar to Genista (in fact it has also been called Genista biflora and Chronanthus biflorus). In the Balearics it only lives in the Northeastern zone of Eivissa, where it can become very abundant. It has a lot of green branches at the top which are angular and covered with trifoliate leaves. The flowers are yellow and appear at the top of the branches, generally in small quantities. It can be differentiated from Genista dorycnifolia because this one has many flowers in the inflorescence which is also terminal and the stem is not quadrangular. It flowers at the end of spring.