SPECIES DESCRIPTION
HYPECOUM TORULOSUM
Family and Genus:- See- FUMARIACEAE
Common Names:- None
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Hypecoum (Gr) Rattle. A name used by the Greek physician and
botanist Dioscorides, making reference to the loose seeds in the flat curved pod.
Torulosum (L) Muscular, swollen or thickened at intervals.
General description:- Plant 5-12(-16) cm, glaucous.
Leaves:-
1) Ultimate leaflets of the upper primary leaf-segments dilated towards the 3-fid
apex, often with 1 to several lateral teeth.
Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence, decumbent to erect, with 1-7 flowers.
2) Sepals, 2-5 x 1-2 mm, persistent, entire, margins crenulate or dentate.
sometimes with a 2-fid or 3-fid apex.
3) Petals, lemon-yellow;
a) outer, (4-)5-8 x 3-6 mm, unguiculate, always longer than wide. lateral lobes,
involute, giving the petal a rhombic appearance.
b) inner, with black spots. lateral lobes linear, usually not exceeding the central
lobe. central lobe 1·7-3·3 x 1-2·8 mm, obovate, not unguiculate.
4) Filaments, of the median stamens narrowly triangular, without black spots.
5) Pollen, orange-yellow.
Fruit:-
1) Strongly cylindrical, torulose, 2-3·5 mm wide at the widest septa.
2) Seeds, dark brown.
Key features:-
1) Central lobe of the inner petals not unguiculate.
2) Inner filaments, narrowly triangular or ovate.
3) Fruit, 1·5-3·5 mm wide.
4) All or most ultimate leaflets of the upper primary leaf-segments wider towards
the 3-fid apex, often with 1 to several lateral teeth.
5) Pollen, orange-yellow.
6) Outer petals, not more than 6 mm wide, always longer than wide.
7) Lateral lobes, often involute.
Habitat:- Sandy habitats, especially close to the sea. Often forming scattered
colonies.
Distribution:- Coasts of Black Sea and Mediterranean region. Limited distribution
on Crete, mainly in the east.
Flowering time:- Mar-May
Photos by:-
