Colurcu is a genus of great rusticity and is valuable as forage. Its domestication is limited by thc low germination rates and high susccptibility of the seeds to fungal attack. Abundant kaempferol, quercetin and myncetin glycosides have been identified from seed coats of Colttien arhorpscrns and C'. ntlunrica. Their ecophysiological role is studied by bioassays: inhibition test of germination of Lnctuca sativa; inhibition test of growth of ('1ado.vporiuni clcttlosporoides and Sterigmatonijices polyborus isolated from the seed coats.
Circummediterranean species of Colutru (Lrgunzinosae) show a remarkable rusticity and adaptability to rather extreme ecological conditions (cold, aridity, poor soil). These wild shrubs have been studied (ALLUE 1983, CERESUELA 1984, HARBORNE 1977) as revaluing elements in areas otherwise considered as marginal.
Colutea avhorescens L. and Colutea atlantica BROWICZ are representatives of the genus in the Iberian Peninsula. The former grows in the N E and central regions, whereas the latter grows in SE Spain. In central Spain intermediate forms are also found.
Management, domestication and selection in both species is limited by the low germination of their seeds, as indicated by ALLUE (1983), as well as by their phenological heterogeneity and the strong incidence of various plagues : the butterfly Lumpides boeticus, endemic in the Iberian Peninsula, several beetles and various fungi that appear on the seed coats in a damp environment.
The objective of this study is to contribute some data on the different flavonoids identified from the seed coats, as well as on the role they play in resistance mechanism against fungal attack. The germination of these species and the occurrence of probable inhibitors of germination have also been studied. Some chemotaxonomical data. which might clarify the distribution of both taxa in the Iberian Peninsula, have also been included.
Methods
Plant material: Seeds of Colurea arhorescens were collectcd in Arganda del Rey. and those of C . urlutitica in Villarobledo (Central Spain), both in 1987.
Determination of fungi: For the identification of the filamentous hyphomycete Clndosporium clntlospo-Toides a medium 2 ?(,malt extract agar (MEA) and potato dextroseagar(PDA) was used. The culture was grown in solid media for 14 days at 25 "C. In the identification of the yeast strain Sterig~~taromycespol.vborus, the media used for morphological study were 2 "/, malt extract agar, potato dextrose agar and yeast extract (0.5 '4)glucose ('*:,)-peptone (1 %) agar (YPG). Assimilation and fermentation abilities, splitting of arbutin; growth in vitamin-free medium, with SO%, and at 37 "C production of acid and amyloid compounds; hydrolysis of urea; tolerance to cycloheximide; to 1 " o, 5" oand 101 NaCl; production of mycelium and pseudomycelium. pellicle and ring. production of ascospores or basidiospores were tested by thc methods standarized by VAN IXR WALT and YARROW (in: KREGER 1984). Fermentation was recorded every 3 days, up to 21 days. Results were registcred as percentages of gas volume in glass insert tubes in DURHAM test tubes. Use of nitrogen com-35*