Calicotome Explained

Calicotome is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes five species native to the Mediterranean Basin. The genus belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. It may be synonymous with Cytisus. All species of the genus are thorny shrubs. The ancient Greeks believed that tyrants in Hades were punished by being beaten with the thorny calycotomes.

Species

Calicotome comprises the following species:^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

Image	Scientific name	Distribution
	Calicotome infesta (C. Presl) Guss.	Europe
	Calicotome intermedia (Salzm. ex C.Presl) Boiss. ex Rchb.f.	North Africa (Morocco to Libya) and southern and southeastern Spain
	Calicotome rigida (Viv.) Maire & Weiller	North Africa
	Calicotome spinosa (L.) Link	Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Algeria
	Calicotome villosa (Poir.) Link	eastern Mediterranean region, Europe

Notes and References

Web site: ILDIS LegumeWeb entry for Calicotome . . International Legume Database & Information Service . Cardiff School of Computer Science & Informatics . 1 April 2014 .
Web site: GRIN species records of Calicotome . USDA . USDA . ARS . Agricultural Research Service . National Genetic Resources Program . Germplasm Resources Information Network—(GRIN) [Online Database] . National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland . 1 April 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924095820/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?1883 . 24 September 2015 . dead .
Web site: The Plant List entry for Calicotome . 2013 . . . 15 April 2014 .