FEDIA CORNUCOPIAE

Family and Genus:- See- VALERIANACEAE

Common Names:- Horn-of-plenty

Homotypic Synonyms:- Fedia graciliflora

Meaning:- Fedia. Etymology uncertain.

Cornucopiae (Gr) Shaped like a cornucopia.

General description:- Erect, dichotomously branched annual

Stems:-

1) 5-30 cm tall, glabrous and somewhat succulent, often tinged purple.

Leaves:-

1) Spathulate to elliptical;

a) lower, 2-15 cm, more or less petiolate, usually entire.

b) upper, smaller, sessile, margins denticulate..

Flowers:-

1) In terminal, usually paired spikes.

2) Peduncles, inflated in fruit.

3) Calyx, reduced to a rim.

4) Corolla, 8-16 mm, pink with darker pattern at the centre,

a) tube, more than twice as long as the limb, narrow, gibbous at the base

b) limb, 2 lipped

5) Stamens, 2, or 3 of which 2 are connate.

Fruits:-

1) Mostly broadly ovoid; sterile cells (loculi) usually larger than fertile.

Click here for a glossary of terms used

Habitat:- Rocky limestone slopes with dry open shrubby vegetation , gorges, field

margins, vineyards. 50-550 m.

Distribution:- Mainly in the W & C Mediterranean region eastwards to Greece.

Very rare on Crete, known only from the area east and south of Heraklion and a few

scattered locations further west.

Flowering time:- Feb-May.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton