SPECIES DESCRIPTION
NOCCAEA ZAFFRANII
Family and Genus:- See- CRUCIFERAE
Common Name:- None
Homotypic Synonyms:- Thlaspi zaffranii
Meaning:- Noccaea, meaning unknown.
Zaffranii (L) Jacques Zaffran (b. 1935), a French botanist who made
important contributions to the flora of Crete.
General description:- Dwarf, glabrous, short-lived perennial. Whole plant grey
with a purplish tinge.
Stems:-
1) 2-6 cm, ascending.
Leaves:-
1) Rather fleshy.
2) Basal, in an indistinct rosette, broadly spathulate to obovate, entire or obtusely
dentate.
3) Cauline, amplexicaul, suborbicular, with rounded auricles.
Flowers:-
1) Raceme, dense, scarcely elongating in fruit.
2) Pedicels, c. 5 mm, patent to ascending, remaining slender.
3) Sepals, 1.5-2 mm, ovate-elliptical, obtuse, pale green to pale purplish with
whitish margins.
4) Petals, 3.5-5 mm, broadly oblong to obovate, tnincate, white or very pale pinkish.
Fruit:-
1) Siliculae, 5-6 mm, broadly obovate, moderately compressed, ± cochleariform,
purplish.
2) Wings, c. 1.5 mm broad at the apex, forming a deep, narrow notch.
3) Style, up to 0.5 mm, included in the notch.
Key features:-
1) Fruiting raceme, dense, less than 2 cm long.
2) Style, up to 0.5 mm, not or scarcely exceeding the apical notch
3) Whole plant grey with a purplish tinge.
4) Cauline, leaves somewhat fleshy, suborbicular.
5) Fruiting pedicels, 5-7 mm.
Habitat:- Rocky limestone slopes an screes (1300-)1700-2100m,
Distribution:- A rare local endemic of the Lefka Ori massif.
.
Flowering time:- April to early June..
Photo by:- A, N. Other
