SPECIES DESCRIPTION
LIMONIUM VIRGATUM
Family and Genus:- See- PLUMBAGINACEAE/Subgen. LIMONIUM
Common Names:- None
Synonyms:- Limonium oleifolium, Statice oleifolia.
Meaning:- Limonium (Gr) Meadow-plant. A name used by the Greek physician
and botanist Dioscorides.
Virgatum (L) Twiggy, with straight slender twigs.
General description:- Glabrous perennial, forming a sub-shrub 15-60 cm tall, with
several erect to ascending stems and a robust tap-root.
Caudices:-
1) 0.5-20 cm long, branched, densely spirally leafy in the upper half.
Stems:-
1) 14-50 cm long, flexuous, rugose, branching begins shortly above the base.
2) Branches
a) sterile, several to numerous, 2-5 cm long, straight to slightly flexuous, longer
branches divided.
b) fertile, 4-12 cm long, straight to slightly flexuous, directed obliquely upwards,
forming branching angles of 30°- 45°, branched in the upper half.
Leaves:-
1) Fleshy, dark green, 30-85 mm long and 4.0-8.5 mm broad, normally flat,
verrucate, narrowly spathulate to narrowly oblanceolate, apex obtuse to rounded,
mucronate, with one central nerve, gradually tapering into the petiole.
Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence trullate or obtrullate in outline.
2) Spikes 5-80 mm long, straight to arched, directed obliquely upwards to
spreading
a) Spikelets laterally slightly curved near the base, 6.1-7.2 mm long, composed
of 1-5 (-10) flowers, remotely to densely arranged with 4-6 per cm; sometimes
nearly clustered.
3) Bracts
a) outer, 1.8-2.8 x 1.7-2.4 mm, triangular-ovate, acute; bract margin broadly
membranous; central part slightly fleshy, sometimes only at the base,
acuminate.
b) middle, membranous, 1.7-2.6 x 1.7-2.1 mm, broadly oblong to broadly oblong-
obovate, rounded.
c) inner, 4.9-6.0 x 3.0-3.6 mm,, elliptic to oblong-obovate, round to broadly acute.
margin broadly membranous; central part fleshy, 4.0-5.2 x 1.8-2.8 mm, oblong
forming a triangular tip, 0.8-1.2 mm long, nearly reaching the upper margin.
4) Calyx, 5.0-6.0 mm long, exceeding the inner bract by 1.2-1.8 mm;
a) tube, sparsely to densely shortly hairy, with 5 ribs ending above the base of
the lobes.
b) lobes, ca. 0.6 x 0.9 mm, broadly semi-elliptical.
5) Corolla, red-violet.
Fruit:- Capsules surrounded by the corolla which remains attached, membranous
and dry after flowering.
Habitat:- Saltmarshes and rocky coasts, sometimes along roads, dry open shrubby
vegetation and ruderal habitats a short distance inland. 0-50(-300) m.
Distribution:- W Greece and Ionian Islands. - Widespread in the Mediterranean
region. Scattered around the the coastal areas of Crete.
Flowering time:- Mid-May to Sept.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
