Ononis alopecuroides, Foxtail Rest Harrow,
Hebrew: שברק משובל, Arabic: الشبرق الثعلبي
Scientific name:  Ononis alopecuroides L.
Common name:  Foxtail Rest Harrow
Hebrew name:  שברק משובל
Arabic name:  الشبرق الثعلبي, alshabriq althaelabiu
Family:  Papilionaceae, פרפרניים

Israel flowers, flora de Israel
Life form:  Annual
Stems:  10-65 cm; nearly glabrous below, densely hairy and glandular above
Leaves:  Alternate, entire
Inflorescence:  Dense terminal racemes, elongating slightly after anthesis
Flowers:  Corolla 13-16mm; Pink
Fruits / pods:  Legume
Flowering Period:  April, May
Habitat:   Humid habitats
Distribution:  Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:  Mediterranean
Summer shedding:  Ephemeral

Ononis alopecuroides,Foxtail Rest Harrow, שברק משובל, الشبرق الثعلبي


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.
alopecuroides, alopecuros, αλωπεκουροϛ (αλωπεξ ουρα) Theophrastus: "fox tail, fox brush"; -oides, -οειδεϛ, "like, resemble"; like the genus Alopecurus (foxtail).
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.

Ononis alopecuroides,Foxtail Rest Harrow, שברק משובל, الشبرق الثعلبي
Location: Netanya, the Dora rain pool