Bituminaria Explained

Bituminaria is small genus of perennial herbs in the bean family. It includes 10 species, which range from Macaronesia through Mediterranean Basin of Europe, north Africa, and Western Asia to the Caucasus and Saudi Arabia.

10 species are accepted:

• Bituminaria antiatlantica – southwestern Morocco
• Bituminaria atropurpurea – south-central Morocco
• Bituminaria basaltica – Sicily
• Bituminaria bituminosa (L.) C.H. Stirt. – Mediterranean Basin and Caucasus
• Bituminaria flaccida (Nábělek) Greuter – Jordan, Sinai, and Saudi Arabia
• Bituminaria kyreniae – Cyprus
• Bituminaria morisiana (Pignatti & Metlesics) Greuter^[1] – Sardinia
• Bituminaria palaestina – Levant
• Bituminaria plumosa – Croatia
• Bituminaria tunetana – Tunisia

Notes and References

1. A pterocarpan from the seeds of Bituminaria morisiana. Marco Leonti, Laura Casu, Jurg Gertsch, Leonardo Bonsignore, Costantino Floris, Mariano Casu and Filippo Cottiglia, J Nat Med (2010) 64:354–357,