SPECIES DESCRIPTION
LIMONIUM FRAGILE
Family and Genus:- See- PLUMBAGINACEAE
Common Names:- None
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Limonium (Gr) Meadow-plant. A name used by the Greek physician
and botanist Dioscorides.
Fragile (L) Refers to the very delicate stems.
General description:- Glabrous perennial, forming a sub-shrub 5-15 cm tall, with
few to several ascending to erect stems and a robust tap-root
Caudices:-
1) 1-5 cm long, densely branched and densely spirally leafy in the upper third, living
leaves in rosettes at apices.
Leaves:-
1) Fleshy, grey-green, flat, verrucate, 5-20 mm x 1-3 mm, narrowly oblanceolate or
narrowly spathulate, apex obtuse to nearly acute, slightly retuse, with one
central nerve, gradually tapering into the petiole.
Stems:-
1) Slender, 3-12 cm long, flexuous, verrucate to rugose, branching begins near the
base of the stem, sometimes proliferating in axils.
2) Branches:
a) sterile, several, 5-25 mm long, more or less straight, normally undivided,
verrucate.
b) fertile, slender, 5-35 mm long, slightly verrucate, mostly straight, obliquely
directed upwards, forming branching angles of 25°- 45°, normally
unbranched.
Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence trullate or obtrullate in outline.
2) Spikes, 5-35 mm long, straight, inserted obliquely directed upwards, spike axis
sometimes with crateriform glands.
a) spikelets 5.9-6.2 mm long, composed of 1-3 flowers, remotely arranged with 2-
4 per cm.
3) Bracts:
a) outer, 1.2-1.7 x 1.5-2.2 mm, triangular-ovate, obtuse to acute, margin
broadly membranous; central part fleshy, acuminate.
b) middle, membranous, 1.5-1.9 x 1.3-1.8 mm, elliptic, rounded.
c) inner, 4.3-5.0 x 2.7-3.1 mm, elliptic, rounded, margin more or less narrowly
membranous; central part fleshy, 3.1-4.1 x 1.8-2.1 mm, oblong, acuminate,
forming a narrowly triangular tip, 0.7-1.0 mm long, not reaching the upper
margin.
4) Calyx, 4.5-5.0 mm long, exceeding the inner bract by 1.0-1.5 mm,
a) tube, very sparsely shortly hairy, with 5 ribs ending above the base of the
lobes.
b) lobes, ca. 0.8 × 0.8 mm, narrowly semi-elliptic.
5) Corolla, pale violet.
Key features:-
1) Leaves, 5-20 × 1-3 mm, narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly spathulate, warty,
1-nerved.
2) Stems, thin, few to many, warty to rugose,
a) sterile branches, many,
3) Spikes, 5-35 mm long,
a) spikelets, 5.9-6.2 mm long, 1-3-flowered, arranged 2-4 in 1 cm,
4) Bracts:
a) lower,1.2-1.7 x 1.5-2.2 mm, triangular-ovate,
b) middle, 1.5-1.9 x 1.3-1.8 mm, elliptic,
c) upper, 4.3-5.0 x 2.7-3.1 mm, elliptic, apex rounded, margin narrowly
membranous,
5) Calyx, 4.5-5.0 mm long, from the upper bract 1.0-1.5 mm long,
a) tube, sparsely hairy,
b) lobes, ca. 0.8 x 0.8 mm, narrowly semi-elliptical.
Habitat:- Rocky coastal habitats, on limestone.
Distribution:- Karpathos, Crete and Antikythera, where it is very rare.
Flowering time:- May-August.
Photos:- Currently unavailable.
