ASPHODELINE LUTEA

Family:- ASPHODELACEAE

Common Name:- Yellow asphodel

Synonyms:- Asphodelus luteus, Dorydium luteum.

Meaning:- Asphodeline. (Gr) Asphodelus-like (silver rod).

Lutea.(L) Yellow, vile, of clay, muddy.

General description:- Medium to tall herbaceous perennial.

Stem:-

a) 40-80 cm.

b) stout, erect.

c) entirely covered by sheathing leaf-bases.

Leaves:-

1) Lamina:

a) entire.

b) lower up to 35 cm x 1·5-3(-5) mm. narrowly linear, recurved.

c) upper shorter and suberect.

d) deep green or bluish-green.

Flowers:-

1) Blooms:

a) 30-40 mm.

b) somewhat asymmetric.

c) borne in a dense 10-20 cm., spike.

d) petals 18-20 mm long yellow, with a green mid-vein.

2) Stamens:

a) 3 long and 3 short, the former with markedly curved stalks (filaments).

3) Bracts:

a) 20-30 x 8-12 mm.

b) ovate, cuspidate.

4) Pedicels:

a) c. 20 mm.

b) articulated near the middle.

5) Perianth-lobes:

a) 20-25 x 4-7 mm.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule:

a) 10 mm.

b) globose.

2) Seeds:

a) 4-5 mm.

b) trigonous.

c) black.

Key features:-

1) Bracts c. 25 x 10 mm.

2) Stem leafy throughout.

Habitat:- Rocky slopes in hills and mountains, dry open shrubby vegetation,

occasionally on cliffs or by roadsides or in scrub.

Distribution:- Italy, Sicily, the Balkans and Crete eastwards, including Cyprus.

Widespread and common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Mar-May.

Photo by:- Steve Lenton