Editing Retama

{{Short description|Genus of legumes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Retama_raetam_%28Puntagorda%29_02.jpg
| image_caption = White flowers of ''[[Retama rhodorhizoides]]''<!--R. raetam is not native to the Canaries-->
| taxon =  Retama
| authority = [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Raf.]]
| display_parents = 2
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 4–14; see text.
| synonyms = 
* ''Boelia'' {{small|Webb (1853)}}
* ''Lygos'' <small>Adans. (1763), nom. rej.</small>
| synonyms_ref = <ref name=POWO_331900-2/>
}}

'''''Retama''''' (also known as '''''rotem''''', {{langx|he|רותם}}) is a genus of flowering bushes in the [[legume]] family, [[Fabaceae]]. It belongs to the [[Broom (shrub)|broom]] tribe, [[Genisteae]].<ref name="Cardoso1">{{cite journal |vauthors=Cardoso D, Pennington RT, de Queiroz LP, Boatwright JS, Van Wyk BE, Wojciechowski MF, Lavin M | year = 2013 | title = Reconstructing the deep-branching relationships of the papilionoid legumes | journal = [[South African Journal of Botany|S Afr J Bot]] | volume = 89 | pages = 58–75 | doi = 10.1016/j.sajb.2013.05.001 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2013SAJB...89...58C | hdl = 10566/3193 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> ''Retama'' broom bushes are found natively in North Africa, the Levant and some parts of southern Europe. ''Retama raetam'' and ''Retama monosperma'' have white flowers, while ''Retama sphaerocarpa'' has yellow flowers. It remains an open question in taxonomy whether the members of the genus ''Retama'' should be incorporated into the genus ''[[Genista]]'' (see [[Genisteae]]).

The species contain [[cytisine]], a toxic alkaloid.

In the Spanish language the name ''retama'' is commonly used for broom bushes in general, including the genus ''Retama''.

== Taxonomy ==
The genus ''Retama'' was erected in 1838 by [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]], the genus name being derived from Hebrew, from the [[Jewish Bible]]. Rafinesque noted that the genus had been included in other genera, including ''[[Spartium]]'', ''[[Cytisus]]'' and ''[[Genista]]'', but he regarded it as distinct.<ref name=Rafi38>{{Citation |last1=Rafinesque |first1=Constantine Samuel |date=1838 |contribution=82. ''Retama'' |title=Sylva Telluriana |page=22 |location=Philadelphia |access-date=2018-02-15 |contribution-url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/404578 }}</ref>

The name ''Lygos'' was once used for ''Retama'';<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=n2fHDGuqz6wC&pg=PA410 James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, ''The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-Of-Doors and Under Glass,''  Cambridge University Press, 2011,  p. 410].</ref><ref>[http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/habitats/3510 European Environment Agency,  Thermo-mediterranean (''Lygos raetam'') brush]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=10IMFSavIMsC&pg=PA924 Hanelt P. & Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (eds.), Mansfeld's Encyclopedia of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops, Springer Verlag, Germany, 2001, p. 924]</ref> it is now a [[rejected name]] (''nomen rejiciendum'') in the [[International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants]].<ref>{{GRIN |mode=cs2|name=''Lygos'' Adans. |id=17320 |access-date=2018-02-13 }}</ref> [[Michel Adanson]] described and classified the genus referencing to the Greek plant  "lygos" and to [[Pedanius Dioscorides]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/mobot31753002833132#page/320/mode/2up Adanson M. (1763) Familles des Plantes, Paris, vol. 2, pp. 321, 573.]  Note: In p. 573 the name is printed as “Lugos”.</ref> In the ancient Greek language, ''lygos'' (λύγος) was the name of the plant ''[[Vitex agnus-castus]]'' (chaste tree)<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aalphabetic+letter%3D*l%3Aentry+group%3D53%3Aentry%3Dlu%2Fgos Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'']</ref> or willow or other plants with pliant twigs.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=JgHVAAAAMAAJ&q=lygos+genus ''Composition of scientific words: a manual of methods and a lexicon of materials for the practice of logotechnics''], [[Brown, Roland Wilbur]], Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979  p. 856.</ref> The same word (in some cases Latinized as ''Lygus'') was used in botany and zoology for various taxonomic groups as a component of names, e.g. ''Lygodysodea, Lygisyum, Lygistum, [[Lygodesmia]]'' etc.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hotPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA560 George Don, A general history of the Dichlamydeous plants,  London, 1834, vol. 3, p. 483, 560.]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?ei=9-zNT9ajA4SA8gOS88zyDA&id=JgHVAAAAMAAJ&dq=insect+lygos&q=lygus Brown, p. 485]: ''Lygus oblineatus'' (bug).</ref>

''Retama'' is traditionally placed in the tribe [[Genisteae]], and in the subfamily [[Papilionoideae]] in the 2017 classification of the family Fabaceae (Leguminosae).

== Species ==
The number of species in the genus and their [[Circumscription (taxonomy)|circumscription]] varies. {{As of|2023|September}}, [[Plants of the World Online]], based on the African Plant Database, accepted the following species:<ref name=POWO_331900-2>{{citation |title=''Retama'' Raf. |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:331900-2 |access-date=17 September 2023 }}</ref>
*''[[Retama dasycarpa]]'' <small>Coss.</small>
*''[[Retama monosperma]]'' <small>(L.) Boiss.</small>
*''[[Retama raetam]]'' <small>(Forssk.) Webb & Berthel.</small>
*''[[Retama rhodorhizoides]]'' <small>(Webb & Berthel.) Webb & Berthel.</small>
*''[[Retama sphaerocarpa]]'' <small>(L.) Boiss.</small>

''R.&nbsp;rhodorhizoides'' is included in ''R.&nbsp;monosperma'' by some sources,<ref name="TPL_ild-8461">{{citation |title=''Retama monosperma (L.) Boiss.'' |work=The Plant List |url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/ild-8461 |access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref> and has been identified as ''R.&nbsp;raetam'' by others.<ref name=APD_225962/> When recognized as a separate species, it is restricted to the [[Canary Islands]].<ref name=POWO_517089-1/>

<gallery>
File:Colletes on Retama 1.jpg|Female bee (''[[Colletes]]'' sp.) collecting nectar from a ''Retama raetam'' flower, Holot Mash'abim, Northern Negev, [[Israel]]
</gallery>

== Cultural significance ==
''Retama'' may be mentioned in the [[Bible]], in I Kings 19:4, Psalms 120:4, and Job 30:4, under the name ''rotem'' (Heb. רוֹתֶם/רֹתֶם). According to multiple Jewish biblical commentators, ''Retama'' is used in the Bible as a symbol of slander, as, when burnt, its embers will remain hot long after they turn black.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Redak|pages=I Kings 19:4 "Under one rotem"}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Metzudat David|pages=Psalms 120:4 "With hot coals of rotem"}}</ref> However, this translation is contested, with other commentators translating the word as "[[juniper]]".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Rashi|pages=I Kings 19:4 "Rotem"}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=Ralbag|pages=I Kings 19:4 "And he sat under one rotem"}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=APD_225962>{{cite web |title=''Retama raetam'' auct. |work=African Plant Database |url=http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/details.php?langue=an&id=225962 |publisher=Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques & South African National Biodiversity Institute |access-date=2018-02-15 }}</ref>

<!-- <ref name=PlantList>{{cite web | url = http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Leguminosae/Retama/ | title = The Plant List entry for ''Retama'' | date = 2013 | website = [[The Plant List]] | publisher = [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] and the [[Missouri Botanical Garden]] | access-date = 15 April 2014 }}</ref> -->

<ref name=POWO_517089-1>{{citation |title=''Retama rhodorhizoides'' Webb & Berthel. |work=[[Plants of the World Online]] |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:517089-1 |access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref>
}}

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q2699268|from2=Q17430082}}

[[Category:Genisteae]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]]
[[Category:Fabaceae genera]]