Side by side
What tells them apart
They are in the same genus and share the warty pods. Adenocarpus decorticans has bark peeling in strips and is mainly southeastern Spanish; codesso does not peel and is the common species in Portugal. Neither is eaten.
Harmless confusion
How to tell it
A shrub one to three metres. Leaves of three leaflets, folded along the midrib like a half-closed book, in bunches. Yellow pea flowers in short racemes at the tips. The pods are the mark: covered in wart-like glands, visible and sticky to touch.
How to tell it
The bark peeling in strips is the definitive sign and shows in any season. Three small narrow leaflets, clustered in tufts along the branches. Yellow pea flowers in dense terminal clusters. Pods covered in sticky glands. Range: mainly a Spanish plant, practically absent from Portugal.