BUNIAS ERUCAGO

Family and Genus:- See- CRUCIFERAE

Common Name:- Southern warty cabbage

Homotypic Synonyms:- Erucago erucago, Myagrum clavatum.

Meaning:- Bunias (L) Linnaean generic name from Greek, for a kind of turnip.

Erucago (L) Eruca-like.

General description:- Hispid, glandular annual.

Stems:-

1) 15-60 cm tall, sparingly branched, white-hispid at the base, glabrous above.

Leaves:-

1) Lower, entire to sinuate-pinnatifid or pinnatisect.

2) Upper, entire or dentate.

Flowers:-

1) Raceme, long, lax, ebracteate.

2) Petals, 10-13 mm, lemon yellow, obcordate.

3) Fruiting pedicels, erecto-patent, at least twice as long as the fruit.

4) Style, 3-5 mm.

Fruit:-

1) Silicula, 10-12 mm, quadrangular, with irregularly dentate or lobed wings on the

angles; loculi 4.

Key features:-

1) Petals, yellow; usually 10-13 mm.

2) Silicula, 10-12 mm, with 4 irregularly dentate or lobed longitudinal wings.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Stony open dry shrubby vegetation, sandy flats, olive groves, field

margins. 0-800 m.

Distribution:- Widespread in the Mediterranean region. Mainly around the coastal

regions of W. Crete. Rare

Flowering time:- Mar-May.

Photos by:- Dr. Armin Jagel