RUTA CHALEPENSIS Subsp CHALEPENSIS
Family:- RUTACEAE
Common Names:- Fringed Rue
Synonyms:- Ruta angustifolia subsp. bracteosa, Ruta bracteosa.
Meaning:- Ruta (Gr) Unpleasantness, the ancient Greek name for rue.
Chalepensis (L) From the Arabic name for Aleppo.
General description:- Herbaceous, erect, glabrous and ± glaucous, foul-smelling
subshrub with a woody stock.
Stem:-
a) 20-60 cm.
b) hairless (glabrous),
c) erect.
d) branched, woody at the base and green at the top.
Leaves:-
a) from 12-20 cm long.
b) alternate
c) divided into more than three leaflets which are again divided (bipinnate),
1) leaflets:
a) 1,5-6 mm wide.
b) lance-shaped, oblong to elliptic
c) acute at the base and blunt at the top.
d) pale green.
Flowers:-
a) from 8-15 mm diam. carried on long stems
b) joined together in terminal clusters.
a) bright yellowish green.
1) Corolla:
a) with 4-5 free petals, with narrow and thin fringes at the edge.
2) Calyx:
a) with 4-5 sepals almost free between them, wide, oval to lance-shaped, pointed.
Fruit:- Capsule:
a) 5-8 mm.
b) subglobose.
c) hard.
d) hairless.
e) a little shorter than the stalk.
f) with pointed lobes.
Key features:-
1) Lower bracts much wider than the branches which they subtend.
2) Plant glabrous throughout.
Habitat:- Dry rocky slopes with dry open shrubby vegetation, cliff ledges, olive
groves. 0-800 m. sometimes higher.
Distribution:- Widespread in the Mediterranean region and SW Asia. Somewhat
limited distribution on Crete mainly in the west and east..
Flowering time:- Mar-June.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
FAMILY AND GENUS DESCRIPTIONS
RUTACEAE
General description:- Herbs, shrubs or trees.
Leaves:- Alternate or opposite, simple or compound, dotted with translucent
glands, exstipulate, sometimes reduced to spines.
Flowers:- Usually hermaphrodite and actinomorphic. Sepals 4-5, free or connate
below. Petals 4-5. Disc present. Stamens as many or twice as many as the petals,
rarely more, free or rarely in one bundle and united by the filaments
(monadelphous). Ovary superior, usually with united carpels (syncarpous) and often
4- to 5-celled (locular), but carpels occasionally united at the base only or rarely
free. Styles as many as the carpels, free or united (connate).
RUTA
General description:- Perennial herbs, more or less woody below.
Leaves:- Alternate, with 2- to 3-divisions the divisions extending almost to the
midrib (pinnatisect), ultimate segments linear to obovate.
Flowers:- Inflorescence cymose, bracteate, Sepals and petals 4, or frequently 5 in
the central flower. Petals hooded (cucullate), yellow, margin toothed (dentate) or
fringed with hairs (ciliate) or more rarely entire. Stamens twice as many as the
petals; filaments glabrous, gradually narrowing (attenuate). Styles united (connate).
Fruit:- Capsule 4- to 5-lobed, splitting open to release the seeds (dehiscent).
Key features:-
1) Leaves simple, 3(-5)-sect or 2- to 3-pinnatisect;
2) Lobes less than 2·5 cm, entire or obscurely crenate-serrate.
3) Flowers actinomorphic, yellow.
4) Petals 4, except in the central flower, dentate or fimbriate, rarely entire;
5) Filaments glabrous below.
All species grow in dry, usually rocky situations.
RUTA CHALEPENSIS subsp. FUMARIFOLIA Back to Top
Synonyms:- Ruta. fumariifolia
Meaning:- Fumariifolia (L) Resembling Fumaria leaves.
Resembling Ruta chalepensis subsp. chalepensis, but differering in the following
characters
1) Short, compact and small-leaved.
There are gradual transitions between subsp. chalepensis and subsp.fumarifolia
and the latter is at least partly a modification to hot and dry habitats at low altitude
in the S part of the range of the species. It was described from Cape Sidero in E
Crete based on a collection by Heldreich.1)
1) "Atlas of the Aegean Flora" Book1, Arne Strid 2016.
Habitat:- As for subsp. chalepensis.
Distribution:- Endemic Crete, Karpathos & Kythera
Flowering time:- As for subsp. chalepensis.
Photos by:- Christopher Cheiladakis
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
