About Erophaca baetica (L.) Boiss.
Erophaca is a monotypic genus belonging to the tribe Galegeae. Its single recognized species is Erophaca baetica, a perennial plant that occurs in separated, disjunct populations across the Mediterranean Region. Analysis of nrDNA ITS sequences confirms that Erophaca is monophyletic and closely related to the Astragalean clade. This species is andromonoecious, a rare sexual system among flowering plants (angiosperms) that was previously unrecorded for Old World papilionoid legumes. Erophaca baetica is divided into two subspecies, which grow at opposite ends of the Mediterranean region. E. baetica subsp. baetica is native to the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula (covering Portugal and Spain) and northwestern Africa (covering Morocco and Algeria). E. baetica subsp. orientalis is native to the Eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and Lebanon. Some populations growing in Algeria have been identified as hybrids between the two subspecies.
