Flora of Israel: Shrubby Rest-harrow

Ononis natrix, Shrubby Rest-harrow,
Hebrew: שברק מצוי, Arabic: لزّيق

Scientific name:   Ononis natrix L.
Common name:   Shrubby Rest-harrow
Hebrew name:   שברק מצוי
Arabic name:   الشبرق الصغير, alshabriq alsaghir
Plant Family:   Papilionaceae, פרפרניים


Life form:   Chamaephyte
Stems:   Up to 60 cm high, various stems, woody at the base
Leaves:   Alternate, compound, trifoliate, dentate or serrate
Inflorescence:   Short axillary racemes
Flowers:   Yellow solitary flowers with the standard frequently showing reddish veins
Fruits / pods:   Very hairy hanging pods
Flowering Period:   March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Derivation of the botanical name:

Ononis, (Theophrastus) is from the Greek onos, meaning “ass” (because they are said especially to like it), and the classical Greek name used by Pliny for the rest-harrow.

natrix, Latin “water snake.”
The hebrew word: shabrak, שברק, borrowed from Arabic Al-Shabraq, Al-Shibraq, ononis.

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.