SOLENOPSIS LAURENTIA

Family:- CAMPANULACEAE

Common Names:- None

Synonyms:- Laurentia michelii, Lobelia gracilis, Lobelia laurentia, Lobelia

michelii, Rapuntium laurentia.

Meaning:- Solenopsis (Gr) Tube-like.

Laurentia (L) For M. A. Laurenti, seventeenth-century Italian botanist.

General description:- Delicate annual.

Stems:-

a) 3-15 cm.

b) several, slender, erect.

c) with small, alternate leaves.

Leaves:-

a) most in a basal rosette.

b) spathulate-obianceoiate.

c) margins, entire or with slightly rounded teeth (crenate).

d) thin, subglabrous, light green.

Flowers:-

a) solitary and terminal.

1) Calyx:

a) 3-5 mm.

b) with linear-lanceolate lobes.

2) Corolla:

a) 3.5-6 mm.

b) zygomorphic.

c) upper lip, 2-fid and much larger, broad.

d) lower lip, 3-lobed.

e) throat papillose, yellowish.

f) sky-blue with a large whitish area at the base of the lower lip.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule.

a) 2-3 mm.

Key features:-

1) Stem with small, alternate leaves.

Habitat:- Damp habitats, marshes, woods and springs. (0 - 700 m.).

Distribution:- Scattered in the Mediterranean region and Canary Islands. On Crete

known only from the extreme northwest and Elafonisos. Very rare.

Flowering time:- Apr-June

Photo by:- Dr. Armin Jagel