ASTERISCUS AQUATICUS

Family:- COMPOSITAE

Common Name:- Golden-star

Synonyms:- Bubonium aquaticum, Buphthalmum aquaticum, Dontospermum

aquaticum, Inula aquatica, Nauplius aquaticus.

Meaning:- Asteriscus (Gr) Small-star.

Aquaticus (L) Living in water.

General description:- Short to medium hairy aromatic annual.

Stem:-

1) (2-)10-50 cm, simple or with erecto-patent branches, usually near the apex.

Leaves:-

1) Hairy, oblong to spatula-shaped, grooved lower usually short petiolate.

2) Upper sessile, untoothed.

Flowers:-

1) Flower-heads deep yellow. daisy-like.

2) Outer involucral bracts, 1-2 cm, ovate and coriaceous below, with a long, leaf-like

apex, much exceeding the ligules.

3) Inner ovate, coriaceous, with or without a short green apex.

4) Ligules deeply 3-toothed at the apex.

5) Tubular florets 5-lobed.

Fruit:-

1) Achenes, 1·5-2 mm.

2) Pappus, 0·75-1 mm.

Key features:-

1) Ligules much shorter than involucral bracts.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Damp and sandy places, dry open shrubby vegetation, cultivated and

waste ground, roadsides, coastal and inland. 0-200(600) m.

Distribution:- European Med and N Africa. Widespread and common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Apr-June.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton