LIMONIASTRUM MONOPETALUM

Family and Genus:- See- PLUMBAGINACEAE

Common Names:- Limoniastrum

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Limoniastrum Meaning unknown

Monopetalum (L) One-petalled; having the corolla united,

gamopetalous.

General description:- Much-branched, small leafy, fleshy shrub.

Stems:-

1) 50-120 cm, much branched, leafy, silvery-blue-green;

Leaves:-

1) 2-3(-8) x 0·5 (-1·5) cm, oblanceolate to linear-spathulate, fleshy, glaucous, semi-

amplexicaul

Flowers:-

1) Spikes, 5-10 cm, with fragile rhachis.

a) spikelets 1(-2)-flowered, 5-10 mm apart, nearly parallel to the rhachis.

2) Bracts;

a) outer, 4 mm, truncate; inner 8 mm, forming an ellipsoid envelope around the

flowers.

3) Calyx, 9 mm, enclosed by the bracts.

4) Corolla, 1-2 cm diam, pink, violet when dry.

Fruit:-

1) With circumscissile or irregular dehiscence.

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Habitat:- Saltmarshes, sandy and rocky coastal habitats.

Distribution:- Iberian Peninsula and N Africa eastwards to Italy, Sicily and Crete.

Within the Cretan area probably only native on Gaidouronisi island.

Flowering time:- May-July(-Sept).

Photos by:- Steve Lenton