SPECIES DESCRIPTION
REICHARDIA ORIENTALIS
Family:- COMPOSITAE
Common Names:- None
Synonyms:- Reichardia tingitana, Reichardia tingitana ssp. orientalis
Meaning:- Reichardia (L) For, Johann Jacob Reichard a German physician and
botanist at the University of Göttingen. (1743 - 1782)
Orientalis (L) Eastern, oriental, of the east.
General description:- A low to short, hairless annual, with a slender taproot.
Stems:-
1) 4-35 cm.
Leaves:-
1) Smooth to densely white-papillose.
2) Basal, 2-17 x 0ˇ5-7 cm, oblanceolate, obtuse to acute, dentate to pinnatifid,
narrowed at base into a short, broadly winged petiole.
3) Cauline 1-6, similar to the basal or linear, sessile and more or less amplexicaul.
Flowers:-
1) Capitula 1-4.
2) Peduncles long, thickened at the apex.
3) Involucre 10-15 x 10-15 mm.
4) Bracts ovate, obtuse to acute, with wide scarious margins, glabrous.
5) Ligules yellow, purplish at base, the outer with a red stripe on outer face, about
twice as long as involucre.
Fruit:-
1) Achenes 1ˇ5-2ˇ5 mm, 4- to 5-angled, all tuberculate or strongly transversely
rugose.
Key features:-
1) All achenes transversely rugose.
2) Ligules purplish at the base.
3) Involucre 10-15 x 10-15 mm.
4) Leaves shallowly lobed, denticulate.
5) Outer phyllaries with broad scarious margins.
Habitat:- Rocky and gravelly coastal habitats, steppe-communities 0-50 m.
Distribution:- Mainly in N Africa; total distribution uncertain due to confusion with
the W Mediterranean R. tingitana On Crete currently known from the extreme east
and east Crete islands.
Flowering time:- Apr-May
Photos by:- Courtesy of Wiki-Commons
