ARENARIA SAPONARIOIDES

Family:- CARYOPHYLLACEAE/Subgen. ARENARIA

Common Name:- None

Synonym:- None

Meaning:- Arenaria (L) Sand-dweller.

Saponarioides (L) Resembling a lather-forming soapwort.

General description:- Glandular-pubescent dwarf annual.

Stems:-

1) Not more than 4 cm. solitary or 2 - 3 together.

Leaves:-

1) Oblong-obvate, narrowed into the petiole, obtuse. 3- to 7-veined, the upper

forming an involucre around the inflorescence.

Flowers:-

1) 1-5. pedicels shorter than the sepals.

2) Sepals 5-6 mm. lanceolate, acute, with 3 prominent veins, elongating in fruit.

3) Petals c. ½ as long as the sepals, ovate.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule shorter than the sepals, ovoid.

2) Seeds c. 1 mm, dark brown.

Key features:-

1) Petals shorter than the sepals.

2) Bracts forming an involucre around the inflorescence.

3) Stems less than 4 cm.

4) Whole plant glandular-pubescent

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Limestone screes, rocky slopes and dolines. (950)1500-2200 m.

Distribution:- McNeill (1963: 289) recognized subsp. saponarioides in SW Anatolia

and subsp. boissieri (Pax) McNeill on Crete and Cyprus, but the differences are

obscure.

Flowering time:- May-July

Photos by:- Zacharias Angourakis