ERYNGIUM CRETICUM

Family and Genus:- See- UMBELLIFERAE

Common Names:- Small-headed blue eryngo

Homotypic Synonyms:- Eryngium cyaneum

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

sea holly.

Creticum (L) Cretan, from Crete.

General description:- Slender but rigid, erect annual or biennial,

Stems:-

1) (12-)25-100 cm, erect, divaricately branched above,

Leaves:-

1) Basal, slightly coriaceous, decaying early, 5-15 x 3-15 cm, very variable, oblong-

ovate to suborbicular, cordate or truncate at the base, crenate-dentate to 3-sect

with 2 lobed segments,

a) lobes, 2-pinnatifid, petiolate.

b) petiole, 1-2 times as long as the lamina, unwinged.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence, very diffuse, pedunculate, globose, bluish.

2) Capitula, 0·5-1 cm.

3) Bracts, 1-3 cm, 5-7, linear-lanceolate, pungent, with 1-2 pairs of spines;

a) bracteoles, linear-lanceolate, 3-cuspidate.

4) Sepals, c. 1·5 mm, ovate, mucronate.

Fruit:-

1) Sparsely scaly;

a) scales, not overlapping.

Key features:-

1) Sepals, mucronate.

2) Bracteoles, 3-cuspidate.

3) Inflorescence, spreading, usually with 30-100 capitula.

Click here for a glossary of terms used

Habitat:- Coastal habitats, dry open shrubby vegetation, roadsides, fallow fields

and waste-ground. 0-400 m.

Distribution:- Crete and the Balkans eastwards, including Cyprus. Limited

distribution on Crete, restricted mainly to the west, with two locations in the east.

Flowering time:- June-Aug.

Photos by:- Fotis Samaritakis