SPECIES DESCRIPTION
PARONYCHIA MACROSEPALA
Family:- CARYOPHYLLACEAE
Common Names:- None
Synonyms:- Paronychia capitata subsp. macrosepala
Meaning:- Paronychia (Gr) Beside-nail, a name used by the Greek physician and
botanist Dioscorides, for its former use to treat whitlows.
Macrosepala (Gr) With large sepals.
General description:- Low matted perennial.
Stems:-
1) 2-10 cm, much-branched.
Leaves:-
1) Grey-green, oval to oblong, pointed, hairy.
Flowers:-
1) Clustered, 8-10 mm, concealed by the silvery bracts.
2) Bracts, 5-6mm.
3) Calyx, all green; 2·5-3·5 mm.
4) Calyx-lobes, very unequal, the shortest 2/3-3/4 as long as the longest.
Fruit:-
Key features:-
2) Bracts scarcely concealing the flowers.
Habitat:- Sandy coastal habitats, dry, stony and rocky places in open dry shrubby
vegetation and open coniferous woodland. 0-900 m, occasionally to 2200 m.
Distribution:- Aegean area,just extending to W & S Anatolia. Widespread and
common on Crete.
Flowering time:- Late Mar to June.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED
Achene:- A single-seeded dry fruit, not splitting.
Awn:- A stiff bristle-like projection, sometimes barbed or feathered. a fine bristle
ending an organ.
Bract:- An organ, often small and scale-like, but sometimes leaf-like, located
where the flower-stalk joins the stem.
Calyx:- A Collective name for the sepals - the outer whorl of organs in most
flowers.
Calyx-lobe:- One of the free upper parts of the calyx which may be present when
the lower part is united into a tube.
Herbaceous:- Refers to plant organs that are green and with a leaf-like texture.
Herbaceous perennials are plants that die to the ground each season.
Membranous:- Thin and dry, often opaque or transparent - like a membrane.
Node:- Points on the stem where the leaves arise; often regularly spaced.
Oblong:- Rectangular with rounded ends - used to describe a leaf or petal shape.
Ovary:- The female organ containing the ovules.
Ovate:- Broad and rounded at the base and tapering toward the end.
