SPECIES DESCRIPTION
ANTHEMIS PASIPHAES
Family:- COMPOSITAE
Common Name:- None
Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Anthemis (Gr) Flowery.
Pasiphaes (Gr) Derived from Pasiphaë, (“she who illuminates
everyone”.), daughter of Helios (god of the Sun).
General description:- Perennial herb with stock covered in last year’s leaf
sheaths. Indumentum woolly, ± appressed, hairs medifixed. Glands present in most
parts of plant.
Stems:-
1) Simple or branched; leafy non-flowering shoots present at anthesis. Flowering
stems decumbent to erect, simple, 10-25 cm tall, angled, woolly, greyish-green,
with successively smaller and less dissected leaves up to middle, and entire,
scale-like leaves up to almost below capitulum.
Leaves:-
1) Somewhat aromatic with golden stalked glands on leaf surface, greyish-green,
up to 6 cm long, with both surfaces woolly.
2) Petiole, up to 3 cm long and 0.5-1 mm wide.
3) Blade, 2-pinnatisect, ovate in outline, 2-3 cm × ca. 1.5 cm; primary segments
usually 7, each one divided into 2-5 ultimate lobes; ultimate lobes narrowly
oblanceolate to obovate, 0.7-1.5 mm wide, apex subacute with minute
cartilaginous cusp, usually hidden below the dense trichomes.
Flowers:-
1) Capitulum, solitary, radiate.
2) Involucre, hemispherical, 10-12 mm wide.
3) Involucral bracts, imbricate, greyish-green, lanceolate, 3.5-5 × 1.2-1.5 mm, outer
surface villous with dark green or dark brown midvein; margin dark brown,
0.1-0.3 mm wide, membranous, densely and minutely lacerate, apex dark brown
to black, acute to acuminate.
4) Receptacle, hemispherical becoming hemispherical-conical, apex obtuse.
5) Receptacular scales, narrowly oblanceolate, navicular, 4-6 × 0.7-1 mm, scarious,
apex usually cuneate or emarginate, midvein straw coloured, prominent, leading
to an arista (1-)1.5-2 mm long.
6) Ligulate florets, 14-20; tube green, cylindrical, 2-2.5 mm × ca. 1 mm.
7) Ligules, patent at anthesis, later reflexed, white, oblong to oblong-obovate, 10-15
× 3-5 mm, spotted with sessile glands.
8) Disk florets yellow, spotted with sessile glands; tube, cylindric, 3-3.5 mm long
(including the lobes), 0.5-0.8 mm wide.
9) Lobes 5, triangular, 0.5-0.7 mm long; lower part of disk florets swollen and
spongy at maturity.
Fruit:-
1) Achenes, straw-coloured, narrowly obconic-oblong.
2) Achenes, of disk florets weakly 4-angled, slightly curved, 1.8-2.5 mm long,
excluding pappus, 0.5-0.8 mm wide, more or less longitudinally ribbed;
pappus oblique, forming short lacerate corona 0.2-0.4 mm wide and lacerate
auricle adaxially; auricle scarious, 0.5-0.8 mm long, densely and finely
longitudinally veined.
3) Achenes, of ligulate florets more curved and more prominently ribbed, 2.3-2.6
mm long excluding pappus, surface characters as in achenes of disk florets, but
additionally sessile glands present; pappus as in achenes of disk florets, but
auricle entire, 0.8-1 mm long, with lacerate apex.
Habitat:- Grows on steep, calcareous cliffs, mostly inaccessible even to the
numerous goats that graze the area. Currently known only from the type locality, at
1265 m
Distribution:- A rare Cretan endemic, known only from Mount Kedros.
Recently reconized as a new species.
Flowering time:- From late April to early June.
Photos by:- Vangelis Papiomytoglou and Fotis Samaritakis
