Flora of Israel: Onobrychis crista-galli

Onobrychis crista-galli, Cock’s comb, Cock’s head, Medick vetch,
Hebrew: כרבולת התרנגול, Arabic: ضرس العجوز

Scientific name:   Onobrychis crista-galli(L.) Lam.
Common name:   Cock’s comb, Cock’s head, Medick vetch
Hebrew name:   כרבולת התרנגול
Arabic name:   ضرس العجوز
Family:   Papilionaceae, פרפרניים


Life form:   Annual
Spinescence:   Fruits
Leaves:   Alternate, compound, pinnate
Inflorescence:   Axillary racemes
Flowers:   Pink, calyx-teeth 4-5 times as long as tube; corolla 7-8mm
Flowering Period:   February, March, April, May
Habitat:   Shrub-steppes, Desert
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:   Saharo-Arabian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Onobrychis, Greek onos, an ass; brycho, to bray. Asses are said to bray for it.

crista-galli, crista,crest, top-not, comb, plume; gallus, cock, rooster; cock’s comb.
The Hebrew name: כרבולת, karbolet (Post Biblical Hebrew), crest, cock’s comb; together with Aramaic-Syrian: כרבולתא, borrowed from Akkadian karballatu ( = cap).

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation Lam. is used to indicate Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744 – 1829), a French botanist and invertebrate zoologist.