ASPHODELUS FISTULOSUS

Family:- ASPHODELACEAE

Common Name:- Annual asphodel

Synonyms:- Asphodeloides ramosa, Ophioprason fistulosum, Verinea

fistulosa.

Meaning:- Asphodelus (Gr) Silver rod.

Fistulosus (L) With a hollow stem.

General description:- Annual or short-lived perennial with a fascicle of thick,

fibrous roots (generally 2-3 mm in diam.).

Scape:-

a) 0-60 cm tall. erect.

b) moderately branched above.

Leaves:-

a) 2.5-4 mm wide at the middle. half as long as the plant.

b) numerous, all basal.

c) linear, somewhat fleshy, tubular (fistulose), slightly compressed.

d) with minutely papillose angles.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence:

a) bracts small, edges thin and dry, paper-like (scarious).

2) Perianth segments:

a) 9-12 mm.

b) elliptical.

c) white or pale pink with a purplish-brown mid-vein.

3) Stamens:

a) equalling the perianth segments.

b) filaments symmetrically swollen, white.

c) anthers orange-brown.

4) Style:

a) equalling or somewhat exceeding the perianth segments.

b) stigma pin-headed (capitate), 3-lobed, papillose, pink.

Fruit:-

1) CapsuIe:

a) c. 5 mm.

b) broadly obovoid, smooth.

c) fruiting stem (pedicel) 5-9 mm, with a joint just below the middle, somewhat

swollen above.

Key features:-

1) Slender annual or short-lived perennial with hollow, smooth and usually

cylindrical and tapering (subterete) leaves and slender roots.

2) Capsule 5-7 x 4-5 mm.

3) Perianth segments 9-12 mm.

Habitat:- Open shrubby places, rocky slopes, waste ground, roadsides, olive

groves, open pine forest.

Distribution:- N. Africa, E. Med, including Cyprus, scarcer in the European

Mediterranean. Sparse on Crete confined mainly to the southern coastal regions of

west and east Crete.

Flowering time:- Mar-May.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton