We found this plant quite often at the side of roads, one of its favourite habitats according to the books. As usual it took a while to establish what this pea plant was - there are very many Legumes in the Mediterranean but the distinctive characteristic of this plant is that it smells of road tar or pitch. Hence the English name. The taxonomists have been at Latin again and the genus name has changed from Psoralea to Bituminaria.

Roadside Gozo, 20th March 2005

Added on 17th November 2006, modified 9th January 2007, updated 3rd November 2008, updated 5th March 2010