Cytisus striatus (Fabaceae), a new adventitious “broom” in Argentina

Abstract

The “broom” Cytisus striatus is cited for the first time for Argentina. This species coexists with the similar but more widespread “scotch broom”, C. scoparius, frequent in disturbed habitats of Patagonia and temperate regions worldwide. So far, eight ruderal seed-producing individuals of C. striatus have been spotted in Patagonia. The morphological resemblance between C. striatus and C. scoparius, and the distance between both populations of C. striatus found in Argentina up to now (31 km) suggest that this species could be abundant in Andean regions of Patagonia. This paper provides a key for the identification of the brooms of Tribe Cytiseae present in Argentina.