SOLENOPSIS LAURENTIA

Family and Genus:- See- CAMPANULACEAE

Common Names:- None

Homotypic Synonyms:- Laurentia michelii, Lobelia gracilis, Lobelia laurentia,

Lobelia michelii, Rapuntium laurentia.

Meaning:- Solenopsis (Gr) Tube-like.

Laurentia (L) For M. A. Laurenti, seventeenth-century Italian botanist.

General description:- Delicate annual.

Stems:-

1) 3-15 cm. several, slender, erect, with small, alternate leaves.

Leaves:-

1) Most in a basal rosette, spathulate-obianceoiate, margins, entire or crenate, thin,

subglabrous, light green.

Flowers:-

1) Solitary and terminal.

1) Calyx, 3-5 mm, with linear-lanceolate lobes.

2) Corolla, 3.5-6 mm, zygomorphic, throat papillose, yellowish, sky-blue with a

large

whitish area at the base of the lower lip.

a) upper lip, 2-fid and much larger, broad.

b) lower lip, 3-lobed.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, 2-3 mm.

Key features:-

1) Stem, with small, alternate leaves.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Damp habitats, marshes, woods and springs. (0 - 700 m.).

Distribution:- Scattered in the Mediterranean region and Canary Islands. On Crete

known only from the extreme northwest and Elafonisos. Very rare.

Flowering time:- Apr-June

Photo by:- Dr. Armin Jagel