CRESSA CRETICA

Family:- CONVOLVULACEAE

Common Name:- None

Synonyms:- Cressa monosperma

Meaning:- Cressa (L) Cretan, from Crete.

Cretica (L) Cretan, from Crete.

General description:- Small, greyish-green, bushy perennial with a creeping

rhizome.

Stems:-

1) Up to 5-20 cm, erect, greyish-pubescent, spreading, much-branched.

Leaves:-

1) 2-6 mm, alternate, sessile, lanceolate to ovate, cordate or rounded at the base,

subacute to acuminate, passing gradually into the bracts.

Flowers:-

1) 3-5 mm; pedicels very short.

2) Sepals as long as the corolla-tube, obtuse.

3) Corolla 3-5 mm in diam, whitish-pink or yellow, persistent.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule c. 5 mm in diam, ovoid, glabrous.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Generally confined to muddy saltmarshes by the sea where it may be

dominant in patches, with salicornia, Arthrocnemum, etc.

Distribution:- Widespread across Mediterranean. Limited distribution on Crete,

mainly around central and eastern coastal areas.

Flowering time:- June-Oct.

Photos by:- Fotis Samaritakis