LAGOECIA CUMINOIDES

Family and Genus:- See- UMBELLIFERAE

Common Names:- Fluffy thimbleweed, Common Wild Cumin, Lagoecia.

Homotypic Synonyms:- Cuminoides obliqua

Meaning:- Lagoecia (L) To run wild, to go unrestrained or untamed;

Cuminoides. Meaning unknown.

General description:- Slender short annual, very aromatic.

Stems:-

1) 15-30 cm, thin, erect, sparingly branched above.

Leaves:-

1) Alternate, narrowly oblong in outline, 1-pinnate with 10-18 pairs

of dentate to deeply incised leaflets, divided into lobes;

a) basal, lobes, oval, dentate

b) upper, more deeply divided and narrower.

Flowers:-

1) Symmetrical radially, greenish white, joined together in dense globe-like umbels

2) Umbels, from 5-15 mm diam, with numerous rays.

3) Bracts, feathery, similar to the leaves;

a) bracteoles, pennatilobate, with lobes like bristles.

Fruit:-

1) Diachenes, of 2 mm, with short and stiff hairs.

Click here for a glossary of terms used

Habitat:- Dry open shrubby vegetation, dry grassland, open coniferous woodland,

olive groves. 0-1200(-1700) m.

Distribution:- Scattered localities in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Crete, commoner

from Greece eastwards, including Cyprus. Widespread and common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Apr-June.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton