PlantaeDB Logo
Login Sign-up

Genus Anthyllis in Subfamily Papilionoideae

In botanical taxonomy, a genus (plural genera) is a rank used to group closely related species within a family. In the hierarchy, genus sits below family and above species.

Genera are defined by shared morphological, anatomical, and genetic characteristics (for example, features of flowers, fruits, seeds, or leaves) that indicate a close evolutionary relationship among the species they contain.

Each genus can include one or more species. Examples include Rosa (roses) and Solanum (nightshades, including tomato and eggplant).

Do you wish to read more about plant taxonomy? Click here!

Genus Description

Suggest a correction!

Anthyllis L. (tribe Anthyllideae, Fabaceae subfam. Faboideae) is a temperate to Mediterranean genus of herbaceous perennials, annuals and dwarf shrubs, with about 85 species distributed across Europe, Macaronesia, North Africa and the Near East to the Caucasus and Central Asia (POWO, 2024; WFO, 2024). The type species is Anthyllis vulneraria L. (Lewis et al., 2005). Plants typically have odd‑pinnately compound leaves with terminal leaflets, usually dense indumentum on stems and leaves, caducous stipules that may be foliaceous or reduced, and capitate to short‑racemose inflorescences subtended by involucre‑like bracts that can be deeply divided. Flowers are papilionaceous, commonly pink, white or yellow, with the standard laterally expanded and often beaked; the calyx is tubular to campanulate with unequal teeth forming an inflated tube in fruit; the ovary is superior and usually multi‑ovulate. Fruit is a small, dehiscent pod; seeds are reniform.

The center of diversity lies in the western and central Mediterranean, with marked concentrations in the Iberian Peninsula, the Balkans, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, several taxa being regional endemics. Species occur in dry grasslands, rocky slopes, scree, coastal cliffs, dunes and open woodlands from low elevations to about 2000 m. A. vulneraria exhibits broad ecological amplitude across calcareous and siliceous grasslands in Europe, whereas A. barba‑jovis L. is a maritime shrub of the western Mediterranean and the Balearics (Rosselló & Alomar, 1999). Pollination is primarily by bees and Lepidoptera, with inflorescences often visited by diverse insects; fruit dehiscence releases seeds for gravity and short‑distance dispersal. Reported base chromosome numbers are x=6 and x=8, with diploids (2n=12, 14, 16) predominating (Martin & Fernández‑López, 1988).

Infraspecific classifications historically recognized sections or subgenera within Anthyllis, but recent phylogenetic work places A. barba‑jovis, sometimes treated as sect. Barba‑jovis, closer to the A. vulneraria group, rendering such sectional schemes tentative (Lewis et al., 2005). Molecular analyses confirm the monophyly of the core Mediterranean lineages and support separation from Hymenocarpos and Dorycnopsis (Egan et al., 2016). Alternations include the continued segregation of A. barba‑jovis in some regional floras (WFO, 2024).

Several Anthyllis species are cultivated in rock gardens and naturalistic plantings, notably A. montana L., A. barba‑jovis and A. vulneraria; A. vulneraria is widely used in meadow mixtures for pollinator support and soil stabilization. No species are major timber or food crops, and invasiveness is generally limited.

Conservation concerns include localized habitat loss and fragmentation for several endemics; threats from land‑use change and climate stress are noted for coastal and montane populations (IUCN, 2024). Continued integration of phylogenomic data with revised taxonomic treatments remains a priority.

Pick a Species to see its components: