LENS ERVOIDES

Family and Genus:- See- LEGUMINOSAE

Common Names:- Lentil

Homotypic Synonyms:- Ervum ervoides, L. nigricans ssp. ervoides, Vicia

ervoides

Meaning:- Lens (L) The classical name for the lentil.

Ervoides. Meaning unknown.

General description:- Slender annual, usually branched from the base with several

ascending stems, sparsely pilose throughout..

Stems:-

1) 5-20(-30) cm.

Leaves:-

1) Without a tendril or uppermost with a short tendril.

2) Leaflets, 1-3 pairs, 8-18 x 1-3(-4) mm,those of the lower leaves elliptical, those of

the upper leaves oblong to linear.

3) Stipules, of the middle leaves semi-hastate and simple.

4) Tendrils, simple or obsolete.

Flowers:-

1) Racemes, 1- to 2-flowered, longer than the leaves.

2) Peduncle, with an articulation near the apex, not aristate.

3) Calyx teeth, linear-lanceolate, 2-3 times as long as the tube.

4) Corolla small (c. 5 mm), slightly exceeding the calyx, pale mauve or lavender.

Fruit:-

1) Legume, 9-11 x 4-5 mm, broadly rhomboid to rectangular, puberulent, yellowish,

pubescent.

Key features:-

1) Legume, pubescent.

2) Peduncle, not aristate

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Rocky and gravelly places in phrygana,open coniferous woodland and

terraced olive groves, 0-800 m (to 1300 m in Crete).

Distribution:- Throughout Greece, especially in the west, rare in the north. - Mostly

in C & E Mediterranean region, Anatolia, extending to Ethiopia and Uganda.

Fairly rare on Crete mainly confind to the four main massifs.

Flowering time:- Late March to early June.

Photos by:- A, N. Other