VIBURNUM TINUS

Family:- CAPRIFOLIACEAE

Common Names:- Lauristinus

Synonyms:- Viburnum hyemale.

Meaning:- Viburnum (L) Latin name for the wayfaring tree.

Tinus (L) Old Latin name for Lauristinus (=viburnum)

General description:- Evergreen shrub.

Stems:-

a) 2-4 m.

b) twigs subglabrous or sparsely pubescent, weakly angled.

c) purplish.

Leaves:-

1) Blade:

a) 3-7 x 1·5-7 cm.

b) opposite.

c) ovate-orbicular to ovate-lanceolate, entire, obtuse or acute.

d) leathery, glabrous, shining.

e) dark green above, sparsely pubescent or glabrescent beneath.

f) petioles 0·5-1·5(-2) cm.

g) stipules absent. with c. 4 pairs of lateral veins beneath.

Flower:-

1) Inflorescence:

a) 4-9 cm diam.

b) peduncle 0·5-2·5 cm.

c) flowers 5-9 mm diam, uniform, fertile, pinkish outside, white inside.

Fruit:-

1) A drupe:

a) with a single, globose pyrene.c. 8 mm.

b) subglobose, dark blue.

key features:-

1) Leaves coriaceous, evergreen, entire.

2) Twigs glabrous or sparsely pubescent.

Habitat:- Scrubland vegetation, orchards, roadside thickets, ruderal habitats by

villages. 0-400 m.

Distribution:- Aegean records almost certainly refer to subspontaneous material.

Native in Kerkira and maybe in coastal areas of the W mainland. - W & C

Mediterranean region (¹) Rare on Crete currently known from only one location near

Malia.

1) Atlas of the Aegean Flora (part 2 maps) Arne Strid 2016.

Flowering time:- In Apr.

Photos by:- Courtesy of Wiki-Commons.