TELEPHIUM IMPERATI subsp. PAUCIFLORUM

Family:- CARYOPHYLLACEAE

Common Names:- None

Synonyms:- Telephium imperati var. pauciflorum.

Meaning:- Telephium (Gr) Distant-lover (a Greek name for a plant believed

capable of indicating reciprocated affection).

Imperati (L) For Ferrante Imperato (1550-1625), Italian botanist of

Naples.

Pauciflorum (L) With few flowers.

General description:- Glabrous, glaucous, perennial shrub with a very thick woody

rhizome and numerous slender stems.

Stems:-

1) 5-40 cm, rarely branched, procumbent to ascending, often rooting near the

base, terete.

Leaves:-

1) Alternate, sessile, elliptic to narrowly obovate, glaucous, 3-15 mm long, with

Flowers:-

1) In clusters of 3-8(-12).

2) Sepals, erect, lanceolate-oblong, with scarious margins.

3) Petals, entire, oblong, white, slightly exceeding the sepals.

Fruit:-

1) A beaked three-angled capsule; 15- to 20-seeded, exceeding the sepals.

Key features:-

Habitat:- Calcareous rocky slopes, rubble, screes 1200-2400 m.

Distribution:- Cretan endemic, Lefka Ori, Psiloritis, Dikti, Kedros and Afendis

Kavousi.

Flowering time:- May-July.

Photos by:- Zacharias Angourakis