CERASTIUM COMATUM

Family:- CARYOPHYLLACEAE

Common Names:- None

Synonyms:- Cerastium illyricum subsp. comatum

Meaning:- Cerastium (Gr) Horned, (the fruiting capsule's shape).

Comatum (L) Long-haired, leafy, tufted.

General description:- Annual, very hairy throughout.

Stem:- 1·5-12 cm.

Leaves:-

1) Blade, up to 14 mm. lower, spathulate or obovate. upper, oblong to ovate or

elliptical, more or less obtuse.

Flowers:-

1) Bracts herbaceous.

2) Fruiting stems, 2-20 mm, more or less erect, the hairs mostly deflexed.

3) Sepals, 4-7·5 mm, the outer without or with only narrow thin, dry (scarious)

margins; hairs much exceeding the apex.

4) Petals, usually only 1/2 but sometimes up to 3/4 as long as the sepals.

5) Stamens hairless (glabrous).

6) Styles 1-1·5 mm.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, c. 7 mm, cylindrical or oblong, often more or less curved.

2) Seeds, 0·5-0·8 mm, numerous, spherical or reniform.

Key features:-

1) Petals shorter than the sepals.

2) Styles 1-1·5 mm.

3) Stem 1·5-12 cm.

4) Outer sepals without or with only narrow scarious margins.

Habitat:- Calcareous open rocky slopes, soil patches among rocks, gravelly

slopes, abandoned fields etc., on a variety of substrates 0-1300(-1700) m.

Distribution:- Scattered in Peloponnisos and E Greek mainland, lacking W of the

Pindos. - Greece, Cyrenaica, W Anatolia, Cyprus and Lebanon. Widespread and

common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Mar-May

Photos by:- Dr. Armin Jagel