FUMANA LAEVIPES

Family:- CISTACEAE

Common Names:- None

Synonyms:- Cistus laevipes, Fumanopsis laevipes.

Meaning:- Fumana (L) Smoke, (reference to the colour of the foliage).

Laevipes (L) Polished, not rough, smooth.

General description:- Much-branched, caespitose shrublet.

Stems:-

1) Up to 30 cm; slender, ascending.

Leaves:-

1) (3-)4-8 x 0·3-0·4 mm, alternate, setaceous, usually subterete, bright green or

glaucous, glabrous or with scattered glandular hairs, stipulate, with small,

axillary, leafy shoots.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence, 3- to 8-flowered, terminal.

2) Pedicels, much longer than the subtending the bracts, patent.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, usually 6-seeded; valves widely patent.

Key features:-

1) Leaves alternate, setaceous, ± subterete, stipulate.

Habitat:- Rocky limestone slopes and flats with phrygana and open coniferous

woodland. (0 - 500 m.).

Distribution:- Widespread but rare and very irregularly distributed in the

Mediterranean region. On Crete known only from the Falasarna area in the

northwest. Very rare.

Flowering time:- Apr-May

Photo by:- Dr. Armin Jagel