Hypecoum procumbens

Hypecoum procumbens is a species of the genus Hypecoum, commonly called zadorija or chicken.

Description

Annual plant between 5 and 25 cm tall. Very segmented linear-lanceolate leaves. Decumbent inflorescence with 1 to 7 flowers with yellow petals. The fruit is a dark, long and narrow pod, sometimes curved and with knuckles. Blooms from mid-winter to mid-spring.

Distribution and habitat

It is distributed throughout the Mediterranean Basin. In the Iberian Peninsula it inhabits part of the southern and eastern coasts.
It grows in sandy soils and cultivated fields.

Taxonomy

Hypecoum procumbens L. was first published in Species Plantarum 1:124. (1753) by Charles Linnaeus.

Etymology

The epithet procumbens comes from the Latin procumbere "to lean forward".