Bituminaria bituminosa (L.) C.H.Stirt (= Psoralea bituminosa L.) Pitch trefoil

Bituminaria bituminosa (L.) C.H.Stirt (= Psoralea bituminosa L.) - Pitch trefoil

Scientific Description:

Plants 20−140 cm, stiffly pubescent, smelling of pitch. Leaves cauline. Leaflets 3−5 × 1.5−2.5 cm, linear-lanceolate to broadly ovate; stipules linear to lanceolate. Inflorescence 7−30-flowered, capitate-umbellate. Bracts 2−3-dentate, teeth long setaceous to occasionally lanceolate, whitish-hirsute. Corolla 15−20 mm, blue to violet. Fruit hirsute above, 6−10 × c. 5 mm, excluding the 6−10 mm ensiform beak.

 

Flowering time: May−August.

Habitat: Open ground and in woodland, s.l.−900 m.

Public Description:

Bituminaria bituminosa, commonly known as “pitch trefoil” or “Arabian pea”, is native to the Mediterranean region. It is a perennial herb with blue to violet flowers, and grows up to 140 cm in length. It blooms between May and August and is found in open ground and in woodland. It is easily recognizable by the characteristic smell of bitumen (asphalt) from its leaves. This strong tar-like smell appears to be the result of a combination of some substances (phenolics, sulphurated compounds, sesquiterpenes and probably short-chain hydrocarbon). Pitch trefoil is considered to be a plant that have the potential to provide phytostabilization of heavy metal contaminated or degraded soils.

 

References:

Anonymous (2018). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bituminaria_bituminosa, Accessed date: 06.02.2018.

Vural M (2012). Bituminaria C.H.Stirt., In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 456.