Relatives
Coronilla coronata L. - Crownvetch, Crowned Scorpion-vetch.
Taxonomic position.
Family Fabaceae Lindl., genus Coronilla L.Main synonyms.
Coronilla montana Scop., C. valentina Lam.Morphology and biology.
Perennial plant 25-50 cm tall, glabrous, glaucous. Stems straight or ascending, branched. Stipules oblong, small, 2 mm long, lower ones fused together, upper ones free. Leaves 2.5-4 cm long, with more or less densely arranged 9-13 ovate or obovate leaflets 0.8-2.4 cm long, 0.4-1.1 cm wide, with small petiolules, lowermost leaflets being located at the petiole base. Inflorescence an umbel-like raceme of 15-20 flowers. Peduncles 2-5 cm long. Pedicels longer than calyx. Calyx shortly campanulate, 2.5-3 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, subequal to petal ungues, with acute triangular teeth. Flowers yellow. Standard 1 cm long, cordate, reflexed, on short unguis, shorter than keel but longer than wings. Wings about 1 cm long, ovate, on narrow short unguis. Keel 0.5-0.7 cm long, bent beak-like on narrow unguis. Pods straight, drooping, 1.5-3 cm long, 2-3 mm wide, slightly compressed, distinctly quadrangular, consisting of 2-4 readily breaking segments. Seeds oval or elliptic, slightly compressed, brown or chestnut, smooth, 3 mm long, 1 mm wide. Flowers in May, fruits in July. Entomophilous. Zoochore. 2n=24.Distribution.
General distribution: Central Europe,Mediterranean, Caucasus. Former USSR: European part - Carpathians (Lvov Region, rare), Crimea; Caucasus . Ciscaucasia, Dagestan, West and East Transcaucasia.Ecology.
Montane pine, oak, beech and mixed forests, their fringes, shrubberies, rocky calcareous and chalk slopes.Use and economic value.
Forage. Melliferous.References:
Galushko AI. 1980. Flora of the North Caucasus: Handbook. V.2. P.161. (In Russian).Grossheim AA. 1952. Flora of Caucasus. 2nd ed. V.5. P.347. (In Russian).
Fedorov AA., Tzvelev NN., ed. 1987. Flora of the European part of the USSR. V.6. Leningrad: Nauka. P.121-122. (In Russian).
Shishkin BK., Bobrov EG., ed. 1948. Flora URSS. V.13. P.249-250. (In Russian).
Cherepanov SK. 1995. Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR). St.Petersburg. 990 p. (In Russian).