Herbario Virtual del Mediterráneo Occidental
Àrea de Botànica, Departament de Biologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears
Ononis crispa L.
Family : LEGUMINOSAE
Genus : Ononis
Catalan common name : Motxa.
Province distribution : Balearic Islands.
Distribution in the islands : Cabrera. Minorca.
General distribution : Mediterranean (Balearic)
Endemisms : Balearic Islands
Flowering time : April. May. June. July. August. September.
Life-forms : Chameophyte. Nanophanerophyte.
Habitat : Rocky coastlines and dunes. Also in pine woods, and sometimes in fields and road sides.
IUCN Category : Poco preocupante
Characteristics : A shrub that can be characterised by its very sticky leaves; they are leaves with three or five leaflets. It produces large, yellow flowers at the top of the branches, the largest petal (the vexillum) has red lines on the back. Ononis crispa only lives in Menorca and Cabrera, generally in coastal environments. It looks very much like Ononis natrix, which it has been mistaken for many times, this has less sticky leaves and it never produces leaves with five leaflets. It is also very similar to Ononis zschackei, but the latter lives in the central zone of the Serra de Tramuntana in the rocky walls. All these species have also been treated as a different subspecies of Ononis natrix.
Status : Endèmica.
