VACCARIA HISPANICA

Family:- CARYOPHYLLACEAE

Common Names:- Cow basil

Synonyms:- Vaccaria pyramidata

Meaning:- Vaccaria (L) Cow-fodder.

Hispanica (L) From Spain, Spanish.

General description:- Erect, medium, hairless (glabrous) annual.

Stems

1) 30-60 cm, erect, branched above, glabrous.

Leaves:-

1) Bluish-green, oval to lanceolate, untoothed.

Flowers:-

1) Pink to dark purple, 8-16 mm. with a long pedicel, borne in a laxly branched

2) Calyx, 12-17 mm; green, with 5 broad wings; teeth ovate, acute.

3) Petal-limb, 3-8 mm, sometimes exserted, pale or dark purplish, entire or bifid.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, ovoid, with a thick, papery exocarp dehiscing with 4 teeth, and with a

thinner endocarp dehiscing irregularly.

2) Seeds, 2-2·5 mm, numerous, subglobose.

Habitat:- Weed of cereal fields and wasteground, occasionally in seminatural

grassland. 0-1300 m.

Distribution:- Scattered throughout Greece, but diminishing. Widespread in S

Europe, N Africa and SW Asia. Limited distribution on Crete, restricted to a few

scattered coastal locations, and a few records from the Dikti mountain area. fairly

rare.

Flowering time:- Late April to July.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton