ARENARIA FILICAULIS subsp. GRAECA
Family:- CARYOPHYLLACEAE/Subgen. ARENARIA
Common Names:- None
Synonyms:- Arenaria graeca, Arenaria graveolens var. graeca.
Meaning:- Arenaria (L) Sand-dweller.
Filicaulis (L) Having slender stems.
Graeca (L) Greek, from Greece.
Stems:-
1) 5-15 cm. slender, fragile.
Leaves:-
green.
2) Lower, shortly stalked.
3) Upper, stalkless.
Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence, 3-10 flowered, lax, leafy with slender spreading branches.
stalks 2-5(-10) times as long as the sepals.
3) Petals, twice as long as the the calyx. oblong-cuneate. white.
4) Bracts, lower wedge-shaped at the base.
Fruit:-
1) Capsule, about as long as the sepals.
2) Seeds:0·7-1 mm. with acute tubercles.
Key features:-
1) Sepals ovate, acute, about as long as the capsule.
2) Petals 1 1/3-1 1/2 times as long as sepals.
3) Capsule slightly shorter than the sepals.
4) Leaves elliptical, lanceolate or oblanceolate, with a prominent midrib.
5) Seeds with acute tubercles.
Habitat:- Shady crevices and ledges of limetone cliffs. (0-)500-1900 m.
Distribution:- From peloponnisos to the N borders, S and C Balkan peninsula and
NW Turkey, Limited distribution on Crete.
Flowering time:- May to mid-Aug.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED
Acute:- Sharp, sharply pointed, the margins near the tip being almost straight
Bract:- An organ, often small and scale-like, but sometimes leaf-like, located where the flower-stalk joins the stem.
Caespitose:- Tufted, growing in tight groups, the bases of individual plants touching
Capsule:- Dry fruit that opens when ripe. splittin from apex to base into separate segments known as valves.
Capsule-teeth:- The one or two circles of small, pointed, toothlike appendages
Elliptic - Elliptical:- Forming an ellipse, widest in the middle and pointed at both ends.
Glandular pubescent:- Hairs tipped with small glands that secrete oil or some other liquid often making the leaves and stems sticky.
Inflorescence:- The flowering branch or branches, flowers and bracts above the uppermost leaves on a stem. Inflorescences are very variable from one species to another.
Lanceolate:- Lance-shaped: more or less elliptical but broadest below the middle.
Oblanceolate:- Inversely lanceolate, broadest towards the apex and tapering to the stalk.
Ovate:- Broad and rounded at the base and tapering toward the end.
Perianth:- Outer region of a flower. The perianth includes all the structures surrounding the reproductive organs and usually consists of an outer whorl of sepals (calyx) and an inner whorl of petals (corolla).
Petal:- The inner perianth segments when they clearly differ from the outer - often brightly coloured.
Procumbent:- Trailing along the ground but not rooting.
Sepal:- A member of the outer perianth whorl in most flowers. The sepals collectively make up the calyx.
Tubercle:- A small rounded projection or protuberance, especially on a bone or on the surface of an animal or plant.
Acute:- Sharp, sharply pointed, the margins near the tip being almost straight
Bract:- An organ, often small and scale-like, but sometimes leaf-like, located where the flower-stalk joins the stem.
Caespitose:- Tufted, growing in tight groups, the bases of individual plants touching
Capsule:- Dry fruit that opens when ripe. splittin from apex to base into separate segments known as valves.
Capsule-teeth:- The one or two circles of small, pointed, toothlike appendages
Elliptic - Elliptical:- Forming an ellipse, widest in the middle and pointed at both ends.
Glandular pubescent:- Hairs tipped with small glands that secrete oil or some other liquid often making the leaves and stems sticky.
Inflorescence:- The flowering branch or branches, flowers and bracts above the uppermost leaves on a stem. Inflorescences are very variable from one species to another.
Lanceolate:- Lance-shaped: more or less elliptical but broadest below the middle.
Oblanceolate:- Inversely lanceolate, broadest towards the apex and tapering to the stalk.
Ovate:- Broad and rounded at the base and tapering toward the end.
Perianth:- Outer region of a flower. The perianth includes all the structures surrounding the reproductive organs and usually consists of an outer whorl of sepals (calyx) and an inner whorl of petals (corolla).
Petal:- The inner perianth segments when they clearly differ from the outer - often brightly coloured.
Procumbent:- Trailing along the ground but not rooting.
Sepal:- A member of the outer perianth whorl in most flowers. The sepals collectively make up the calyx.
Tubercle:- A small rounded projection or protuberance, especially on a bone or on the surface of an animal or plant.