SPECIES DESCRIPTION
SILENE BELLIDIFOLIA

Family:- CARYOPHYLLACEAE/Sect. SILENE

Common Names:- Daisy-leaved catchfly

Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Silene (Gr) A name used by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus for
catchfly.
                  Bellidifolia (L) Daisy-leaved.

General description:- Erect annual herbs.

Stems:-
1) 30-60 cm, erect, branched, pubescent-puberulent above; hispid and simple, 
    rarely branched, below.

Leaves:-
1) Sparsely hispid.
2) Lower cauline leaves broadly oblanceolate.

Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence, with one dichasial branching at the base, otherwise strictly
    monochasial with short pedicels.
2) Calyx, 12-16 mm, ± villous, tubular at anthesis, strongly clavate in fruit. Veins  
    obscurely anastomosing or free.
3) Petal-limb, 5-8 mm, bifid halfway, pink.
4) Anthophore, 5-6 mm.

Fruit:-
1) Capsule, 9-11 mm; carpophore 4-5 mm.
2) Seeds, c- 1 mm, dark reddish-brown to black, faces deeply concave, with parallel
    longitudinal grooves, back wide, shallowly and broadly grooved. obscurely
    tuberculate.

Key features:-
1) Veins of calyx obscurely anastomosing or free.
2) Calyx more than 13 mm.

Habitat:- Coastal habitats, field margins, olive groves, dry open shrubby vegetation.
0-400(-1100) m.

Distribution:- W. and C. Mediterranean, east as far as W Turkey. On Crete west
and central.

Flowering time:- Late Mar to early June.

Photos by:- Fotis Samaritakis and Enda McMullen
 
GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED

Anastomosing- Forming a network; vein branches uniting where they come into
contact
Anthesis:- The period during which a flower is fully open and functional.
Anthophore. plural -s. : A stalk-like extension of the receptacle on which the pistil
and corolla are borne.

Bifid:- Divided at the tip in two (usually equal) parts by a median cleft

Calyx:- A collective name for the sepals - the outer whorl of organs in most flowers.
Capsule:- Dry fruit that opens when ripe. splitting from the apex to the base into
separate segments known as valves.
Carpophore:- The fruit bearing stalk  A prolongation of the receptacle or floral axis
bearing the carpels or ovary.
Cauline:- Borne on the stem, of the stem.
Clavate:- Club-shaped, thickened towards the apex.

Dichasial:- Pertaining to Dichasium
Dichasium- (pl Dichasia):- Cyme with lateral branches on both sides of the main
axis

Hispid:- With stiff bristly hairs.

Inflorescence:- The flowering branch or branches, flowers and bracts above the
uppermost leaves on a stem.

Monochasial- Inflorescence with a terminal flower and one bracteole subtending a
lateral flower.

Oblanceolate:- Inversely lanceolate, broadest towards the apex and tapering to
the stalk.

Pedicel:- The stalk of an individual flower.
Petal-limb:- An enlarged upper part of the petals.
Puberulent:- Minutely pubescent, the hairs hardly visible to the naked eye.
Pubescent:- Covered with fine short soft hairs, downy.

Tuberculate:- With small, wart-like projections.

Villose, villous:- Covered with long, shaggy hairs.
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