3674.000 Spartium L.

Unarmed shrub to 5 m, often leafless, with erect unbranched stems. Leaves 2-2.5 cm, 1-foliolate, linear to oblanceolate, ephemeral. Flowers 2-3 cm, showy, bright yellow, sweetly scented, in terminal many-flowered racemes; bracts minute. Calyx teeth 5, upper 2 split almost to the base; lower 3 connate into a lip. Petals: upper large wings obovate, keel incurved, longer than the wings. Pod 4-10 cm, linear-oblong, flat, pubescent, dehiscent, 2-valved. Seeds many.

Derivation of name: from Greek spartion, a small cord, used for weaving and cordage.

Worldwide: Species 1, from the Mediterranean region, now naturalised in Gauteng and the Cape.

Zimbabwe: 1 cultivated taxon.