Cicer reticulatum

About

Cicer reticulatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to southeastern Turkey. It is the wild progenitor of the cultivated chickpea and is found primarily near Savur in the Mardin district. The species is characterised by its prostrate growth habit, distinctive reticulated seed surface pattern, and strong genetic compatibility with domestic chickpeas. First described by the botanist Gideon Ladizinsky in 1975, C. reticulatum has demonstrated its close evolutionary relationship to cultivated chickpea through hybridisation experiments that produce fertile offspring and through genomic studies showing 99.93% similarity between their chloroplast genomes. It grows naturally alongside wild peas and lentils in what is historically known as part of the Fertile Crescent.

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