Zygophyllum
(from zygon, a yoke, and phyllon, a leaf; alluding to the pairs of leaflets). Bean Caper. Including Fabago and Raepera. ORD. Zygophylleae. A genus comprising about fifty-four species of small, often prostrate shrubs, under-shrubs, or perennial herbs, all, with one exception, confined to the Old World, and mostly found in Australia and South Africa. Flowers white or red, mostly with a purple or red basilar spot; calyx four or five-parted, imbricated; petals four or five-clawed, imbricated and twisted; stamens eight or ten, longer than the petals; peduncles one-flowered, axillary, solitary or rarely two together. Fruit four or five-angled or four or five-winged, capsular. Leaves opposite; leaflets two, very rarely one, often fleshy; stipules two, often spiny. A selection of the introduced species is here given. They should be grown in a compost of loam, peat, and sand. Except where otherwise stated, all require greenhouse treatment. Propagation may be effected by cuttings, inserted in sand, under a glass; or by seeds, when these are obtainable. Z. Fabago grows freely in any sunny spot, in dry, well-drained soil.
Z. album (white-flowered). fl. on erect pedicels; petals white, crenate, blunt. October and November. l., leaflets cylindrical, club-shaped, fleshy, cobwebby. Stem procumbent. North Africa, 1779. (S. F. G. 371.) Z. coccineum (scarlet-flowered). fl. on erect pedicels; petals scarlet, acuminated. August. l., leaflets cylindrical, fleshy, smooth. h. 1ft. 1823. North Africa and Scinde.
Z. cordifolium (cordate-leaved). fl. four or five-cleft; petals yellowish, broad, thrice as long as the calyx; peduncles about as long as the leaves. October. l. simple, sessile, mostly sub-cordate at base, some oblique at base, or half-cordate. Stem 1ft. or more high, ash-coloured. South Africa, 1774. Z. Fabago (Fabago). Syrian Bean-Caper. fl. on erect pedicels; petals yellow, but of coppery-brick colour at the base, undivided. July to September. l., leaflets flat, smooth, obovate. Root thick, fleshy, striking deeply into the ground. h. 1ft. to 4ft. Syria, Tauria, Persia, Afghanistan, &c. Hardy perennial. SYN. Fabago major (S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 226). Z. foetidum (foetid). fl., petals orange-yellow, with a purple spot at base, four times longer than the pubescent calyx; peduncles nodding, 1/2in. long. June. l., leaflets obovate, obtuse, oblique at base, the larger ones 1in. to 1 1/2in. long; petioles 1/2in. long. Branches herbaceous. h. 2ft. to 4ft. South Africa, 1790. Sub-shrub. Z. insuave (B. M. 372) is a mere form of this species, with narrower petals.
Z. fruticulosum (small shrub). fl. four-cleft; petals yellow; filaments subulate, without wings. July. l., leaflets obliquely oblong or lanceolate, rarely ovate. Australia, 1820. A low, diffuse or divaricately-branched shrub. SYN. Raepera fabagifolia.
Z. f. bilobum (two-lobed). l., leaflets narrow, continuous with the petiole. SYN. Raepera aurantiaca.
Z. fulvum (fulvous). fl., petals fulvous or yellow, with a red basal blotch, twice as long as the calyx; peduncles 1/2in. to 1in. long, reflexed after flowering. July. l. sessile; leaflets lanceolate-ovate, acute, somewhat narrowed at base, the larger ones ten to twelve lines long, very fleshy. h. 3ft. South Africa, 1713. (B. M. 2184, under name of Z. sessilifolium.) Z. insuave (disagreeable). A form of Z. foetidum.
Z. Morgsana (Morgsana). fl. nodding, four or five-cleft; petals yellow, obovate, thrice as long as the glabrous calyx; peduncles 1/2in. to 3/4in. long. August. l. shortly petiolate, the larger ones 1in. to 1 1/2in. long; leaflets obovate, obtuse, sub-oblique at base. Stem terete. h. 4ft. South Africa, 1732.
Z. spinosum (spiny). fl. five-cleft, nodding; petals yellowish or cream-coloured, red-streaked from base to middle or with a purple spot at base, twice or thrice as long as the calyx; peduncles equalling or exceeding the leaves. July. l. sessile; leaflets linear, flat or with the margins slightly revolute, acute, fleshy, four to ten lines long. Branches grey. h. 1ft. to 2ft. South Africa, 1830.