Bituminaria plumosa

Appearance

Perennial herb, 60–90(–150) cm tall, woody and branched at the base, green, densely villous, with hairs subpatent, 0.5–1.5 mm long, slightly smelling of pitch. Stems numerous, erect-ascending, rigid, striate. Stipules lanceolate-ensiform, 7–15 mm long, adnate to the petiole. Leaves petiolate, digitately 3-foliate, leaflets densely vil- lous on both surfaces and densely ciliate at the margin, the central one larger and long petiolate, the lateral ones short- er and subsessile or shortly petiolate; basal leaves smaller, with petiole 1.5–3(–4) cm long and leaflets ovate, 12–20 × 6–12 mm, acute, rounded and apiculate at the apex, with mucro long 1–1.5 mm, 3–5-nerved; the cauline ones much larger, reducing progressively upwards, with petiole 1.5–6 (–8) cm long and leaflets ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 18–65 × 8–28 mm, 5–8-nerved. Raceme capitate, 1.8–3 cm long, 15–25(–30)-flowered; bracts, calyces and upper part of pe- duncle covered by white and black hairs; peduncles (6–)8– 21 cm long, much longer than the leaf. Bracts 5–15 mm long, 1–3-toothed. Calyx 15–16 mm long, 10-nerved with unequal triangular-subulate teeth; tube 6–7 mm long; low- er tooth 8–9 mm long; lateral teeth 6–7 mm long. Corolla longer than calyx; standard purplish-pink upwards, whitish- pink below, elliptical, emarginate, 19–20 × 7–7.5 mm; wings pale purplish-pink, 18–18.5 mm long, with limb 4–4.2 mm wide; keel pink, 12–13 mm long, with limb 2–2.2 mm wide, with macula dark purple at the top. Staminal tube 11–12 mm long; anthers 0.4–0.5 mm long, apiculate. Pistil 13–14 mm long, hairy in the ovary; stigma smooth, ciliate at the base. Pod indehiscent, included in the calyx, 16–18 mm long (beak included), densely covered in the corpus by setaceous hairs, 1–3 mm long, mixed to some rigid black prickles; beak flat, slightly falciform, 10–12 mm long, sparsely hairy and cili- ate at the margin. Seed adherent to pericarp, laterally com- pressed, subreniform, 5.5–6 × 4.5–4.8 mm, blackish-brown.