SPECIES DESCRIPTION

SILENE FABARIA subsp. FABARIA

Family:- CARYOPHYLLACEAE/Sect. INFLATAE

Common Names:- None

Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Silene (Gr) A name used by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus for

catchfly.

Fabaria (L) Of beans, bean-like.

General description:- Robust, woody-based glabrous and glaucous perennial.

Stems:-

1) 30-80 cm. Suberect, rather stout.

Leaves:-

1) Cauline, in several pairs, scarcely diminishing in size upwards, elliptic-obovate,

glaucous, often mucronate.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence, usually with 2 long primary branches bearing irregular dichasia.

2) Calyx, 9-12 mm, ellipsoid, slightly inflated, 10-veined, with faint anastomosing

veins above, teeth triangular, acute.

3) Petal-limb, 3-5 mm, whitish, deeply 2-lobed; coronal scales present.

4) Filaments and anthers ± purple.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, 10-12 mm, ovoid, exceeding the closely appressed calyx; carpophore

c. 2 mm.

2) Seeds 1.2-2.0 mm greyish, face concave; with parallal rows of papillae.

Key features:-

1) Calyx slightly inflated.

2) Stem leafy throughout.

3) Capsule at least 10 mm.

4) Robust plant to 80 cm.

Habitat:- Mainly on rocky seashores.

Distribution:- Aegean area, also W & C Anatolia. Rare on Crete know only from

the cliffs in the extreme east of the island.

An important new location has been discovered by Christopher Cheiladakis (2020)

in the area of Kavalros east Crete.

Flowering time:- Apr-Aug

Photos by:- Yiannis Christofides & Christopher Cheiladakis

GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED

Acute:- Sharp, sharply pointed, the margins near the tip being almost straight.

Anastomosing- Forming a network; vein branches uniting where they come into

contact

Anther:- Fertile part of the stamen - the upper part which contains the pollen.

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.

Coronal-scale:- One of the ring of scales on th inner surface of the corolla, as at

the junction of the limb and claw in some sllene species.

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

axis

Ellipsoid:- Ellipse-shaped.

Elliptic - Elliptical:- Forming an ellipse, widest in the middle and pointed at both

ends

Filament:- The stalk of a stamen, connecting the receptacle to the anther.

Glabrous:- Without hairs, hairless.

Glaucous:- Covered with a waxy bloom, giving a bluish or greyish colouration.

Inflated:- Swollen, like a bladder.

Inflorescence:- The flowering branch or branches, flowers and bracts above the

uppermost leaves on a stem.

Mucro:- A sharp terminal point.

Mucronate:- Of or having a mucro; ending abruptly in a sharp point.

Ovate:- Broad and rounded at the base and tapering toward the end.

Papillae:- Small nipple-like projections.

Petal:- The inner perianth segments when they clearly differ from the outer.

Petal-limb:- An enlarged upper part of the petals.

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