AETHIONEMA SAXATILE subsp. CRETICUM

Family and Genus:- See- CRUCIFERAE/A. SAXATILE Group

Common Name:- Burnt candytuft

Homotypic Synonyms:- Aethionema creticum.

Meaning:- Aethionema (Gr) Etymology uncertain, but possibly meaning, unusual-

filaments (those of the long stamens being winged and toothed).or aitho

(to burn) and nima (thread) the latter referring to the thin stems.

Saxatile (L) Living in rocky places, of the rocks.

Creticum (L) From Crete, Cretan.

General description:- Long-lived perennial, strongly woody at the base.

Stems:-

1) 3-10 cm, erect or spreading branched- near the base or unbranched.

Leaves:-

1) 4-10 mm, 1½-2½ times as long as wide, broadly elliptical to suborbicular, obtuse

to subacute, fleshy.

Flowers:-

1) Sepals, 1·5-2·5 mm.

2) Petals, 2·5-4·8 mm. white, purplish or lilac.

3) Style, 0·3-0·9 mm., usually shorter than but sometimes equalling or exceeding

the notch.

Fruit:-

1) Silicula 5-10 mm, obovate to suborbicular, emarginate, sometimes a little broader

than long, up to 8-seeded, in lax or rather dense racemes; usually at least 40%

of siliculae unilocular.

2) Siliculae, 3-6·5 mm, the wing 1-3 mm wide at the apex.

3) Fruits, bilocular 4·5-10 mm, the wing 1·5-4 mm wide at the apex.

Key features:-

1) Leaves usually not more than 15 mm, lower usually sessile or subsessile.

2) Cauline leaves broadly elliptical to suborbicular, fleshy.

3) Plant strongly woody at the base.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- In a wide variety of rocky habitats, on different substrates, but mainly

lime-stone, 0-2100 m.

Distribution:- W and C Mediterranean from Spain to Greece, including Crete,

Sardinia and Sicily. On Crete it grows in all the main mountain massifs, as well as

some of the lower areas.

Flowering time:- Mar-July.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton