SPECIES DESCRIPTION
CERASTIUM PUMILUM subsp. GLUTINOSUM
Family and Genus:- See- CARYOPHYLLACEAE
Common Names:- None
Homotypic Synonyms:- Cerastium diffusum, Cerastium glutinosum
Meaning:- Cerastium (Gr) Horned, (the fruiting capsule's shape).
Pumilum (L) Very small, low, small, dwarf.
Glutinosum (L) Sticky, viscous, glutinous. with glue.
General description:- Ascending to erect annual.
Stem:-
1) 4-12(-20) cm. Whole plant usually pale green to yellowish-green,
. a) lower part, patently glandular-pubescent.
Leaves:-
1) 5-20 mm.
a) lower, oblanceolate to spathulate.
b) upper, ovate to elliptical, patently glandular-pubescent.
Flowers:-
1) Pedicels, much longer than the sepals.
2) Bracts, usually herbaceous.
3) Sepals, 4-9 mm, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, acute or acuminate, with a
scarious, margin at the apex for up to 1/10 their length, with glandular hairs, and
some eglandular hairs not exceeding the apex.
4) Petals, shorter than the sepals, bifid for c. 1/5 their length, with branched veins.
5) Stamens, 4 or 5.
6) Styles, 4 or 5.
Fruit:-
1) Capsule, 5-10 mm.
2) Seeds, 0·4-0·7 mm, yellowish to chestnut-brown, bluntly tuberculate.
Key features:-
1) Fruiting pedicels, 0.8-2 times as long as the sepals, patent or recurved.
2) Flowers, often 4-merous.
Habitat:- Dry, open sandy and rocky places, mainly in coastal areas, occasionally
to 1800 m on mainland Greece.
Distribution:- Throughout Greece, especially in the north - most of Europe,
introduced elsewhere. Very rare on Crete currently known from only two locations.
Flowering time:- Mar-May
Photos by:- Courtesy of Wiki-Commons.
