| Fabaceae |
|---|
Lotus gebelia VENT. var. gebelia VENT. |
Lotus L. |
| L. gebelia Vent., Hort. Cels. t. 57 (1801). Zertova, op. cit. (1967). Map 94, p. 515. Glabrous to villous perennial. Stems procumbent to erect, 10-50 cm, branching. Leaf rachis elongate to very short. Leaflets (7-)10-15 x5-7 mm, usually ± asymmetric, obovate to oblong-lanceolate, those of the lower pair differing in size and shape from the others. Umbels 2-6-flowered, long- to short-peduncled or even subsessile. Bracts 1-3, unequal, usually shorter than calyx. Flowers 13-18(-22) mm. Calyx subcampanulate, teeth 1-l½ x tube. Corolla about twice as long as calyx, pink or reddish-purple, rarely white; standard obovate, longer than wings and keel; keel with a long or short beak. Fruit 1-many-seeded, 1-5 x as long as calyx, c. 3 mm broad, terete or ± flattened, often torulose. FL 5-7. All pink-flowered perennial plants from Turkey are included here in L. gebelia, since no constant correlation of characters could be found to separate L. varius and other segregates at specific rank. Three varieties (linked by some intermediates) can be provisionally recognised in Turkey: the presence or absence ofindumentum has not been used in their classification, since glabrous and very hairy plants are often found in the same population. L. gebelia var. libanotica (Boiss.) Boiss., with usually smaller flowers and short calyx teeth, is confined to the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. Cf. notes under the closely allied L. aegaeus. 1. Legume much longer than calyx, often torulose and contorted; keel usually with a rather long, slender beak; peduncles all manifestly longer than subtending leaf var. gebelia 1. Legume 1-2 x as long as calyx, torulose and ± straight; keel usually broader with a short beak; at least the upper peduncles shorter or slightly longer than subtending leaf 2. Umbels mostly subsessile or shortly pedunculate, forming a spike-like 'inflorescence' ; leaf rachis very short, upper leaflets mostly elongate, acute or subacuminate var. anthylloides 2. At least the lower umbels long-pedunculate, forming a ± paniculate 'inflorescence'; leaf rachis elongate, upper leaflets mostly broadly obovate, apiculate var. hirsutissimus var. gebelia. Syn: L. aleppicus Boiss., Diagn. ser. 1(9):33 (1849)! L. gebelia var. genuinus Boiss., var. tomentosus Boiss., & var. villosus Boiss., Fl. Or. 2:168 (1872)! Ic: Grossh., F1. Kavk. 5: t. 27 f. 1 (1952). Dry places, 500-1600 m. Described from a plant collected by Bruguière & Olivier near Aleppo (illustrated in Ventenat, 1.e.). Scattered in E. Anatolia. B7 Tunceli: Tunceli, 950 m, Hub.-Mor. 11609. B8 Muş: d. Varto, Gumgum, Kotschy 307! B9 Bitlis: Shemaran, G. & B. Post 1906:672! Tatvan, 1100 m, Alpay (ANKO 2437)! C6 Gaziantep: nr. Kilis, Haradj. 4523! C7 Urfa: 29 km E of Birecik, Hub.-Mor. 13439. N. & N.W. Iran, N. Iraq, Syrian Desert, Soviet Armenia, |