SPECIES DESCRIPTION
GALIUM INCURVUM
Family and Genus:- See- RUBIACEAE/Series ERECTA/G. INCURVUM Group
Common Names:- None
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Galium (Gr) Milk.
Incurvum (L) Inflexed, incurved.
General description:- A waxy-green hairless plant.
Stems:-
1) 5-20(-30) cm, ascending, densely leafy below and usually short-pubescent,
hyaline apiculum.
a) middle internodes, usually shorter than the leaves.
Leaves:-
1) 10-20(-30) x 2(-3) mm, linear-lanceolate, coriaceous or succulent, with a short,
prominent midrib.
a) margins, revolute, slightly scabrid.
Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence, often dense, with rigid, erect branches, 3(-7) cm.
2) Pedicels, 2-3 mm.
3) Corolla, 2-3 mm diam, yellowish or reddish;
a) lobes, apiculate.
4) Anthers, blackish.
Fruit:-
1) Dark brown to blackish.
Key features:-
1) Middle internodes, shorter than the leaves.
2) Longest leaves, more than 10 mm, with a short hyaline apiculum.
Habitat:- Rocky and stony calcareous slopes, thorn-cushion communities,
(Astragalus creticus, Berberis cretica, etc.), in dolines. 1100-2000 m.
Distribution:- Endemic to Lefka Ori and Psiloritis, with a record from Dikti.
Flowering time:- June-July.
Photo:- Fotis Samaritakis
