''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 f ...

family, Fabaceae. 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 cessat ...

, 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, the genus name being derived from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, 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 ...

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

Spartium ''Spartium junceum'', known as Spanish broom, rush broom, or weaver's broom, it is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and the sole species in the genus ''Spartium''. It is closely related to the other brooms (in the genera '' Cy ...

'', ''

Cytisus ''Cytisus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to open sites (typically scrub and heathland) in Europe, western Asia and North Africa. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and is one of several genera in the tribe Ge ...

'' and ''

'', but he regarded it as distinct. The name ''Lygos'' was once used for ''Retama''; it is now a rejected name (''nomen rejiciendum'') in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.

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 ''Lygodesmia'', called skeletonplant, is a genus of North American flowering plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae.

'' etc. ''Retama'' is traditionally placed in the tribe

, and in the subfamily

Papilionoideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae, or Papilionaceae when this group of plants is treated as a family. This subfamily is widely ...

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, based on the African Plant Database, accepted the following species: *''

Retama dasycarpa ''Retama'' (also known as ''rotem'', he, רותם) 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 o ...

'' Coss. *''

Retama monosperma ''Retama monosperma'', the bridal broom or bridal veil Broom (shrub), broom, is a flowering bush species in the genus ''Retama'', native to the western Mediterranean Basin (from Portugal, Morocco and Canary Islands to Italy and Egypt). ''Retama ...

'' (L.) Boiss. *''

Retama raetam ''Retama raetam'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to northern Africa from the Western Sahara to Sudan, Sicily, Israel, Sinai Peninsula, the Palestine region and Saudi Arabia, and widely naturalized elsewhere. F ...

'' (Forssk.) Webb & Berthel. *''

Retama rhodorhizoides ''Retama rhodorhizoides'' is a species or subspecies of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, endemic to the Canary Islands. Taxonomy ''Retama rhodorhizoides'' was first described by Philip Barker-Webb and Sabin Berthelot in a work dated to ...

'' (Webb & Berthel.) Webb & Berthel. *''

Retama sphaerocarpa ''Retama'' (also known as ''rotem'', he, רותם) 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 o ...

'' (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, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

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, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, 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".

References

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