SPECIES DESCRIPTION
PTILOSTEMON GNAPHALOIDES subsp. PSEUDOFRUTICOSUS
Family and Genus:- See- COMPOSITAE
Common Names:- None
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Ptilostemon (Gr) Feathery-stamened-one.
Gnaphaloides (Gr) Felted like Gnaphalium
Pseudofruticosus (L) Falsely - shrub-like.
General description:- Spineless evergreen shrub to 1m, though often less.
Stems:-
1) Often white-downy, especially when young.
2) Flowering branches, tomentose, occasionally glabrescent, with leaves as long as
those on the main stem.
Leaves:-
1) Alternate, simple, narrow, somewhat widened below, base with laciniae 1-5(-9)
mm, acuminate at the apex, white-downy beneath.
a) upper, shorter than the lower.
3) Margins, recurved, in the shape of a needle.
4) Persistent, with silver-coloured hoary fine hairs below and with coiled edges.
Flowers:-
1) Purple, pink or white, from 20-25 mm long, joined together in a capitula.
2) Capitula, usually few, in corymbs, rarely solitary.
3) Involucre, 18-25 x 18-26 mm.
4) Bracts, lanceolate-triangular, with inconspicuous vittae. with an erecto-patent
apex, the middle and outer with an apical spinule 1-3 mm.
5) Phyllaries, with a long, acuminate, somewhat pungent apex.
Fruit:-
1) Achenes, 4-6 mm.
2) Pappus, 14-17 mm. plumose.
Key features:-
1) Bracts, with an erecto-patent apex, the middle and outer with an apical spinule 1-
3 mm
2) Involucre, 18-25 x 18-26 mm.
3) Flowering, branches with leaves as long as those on the main stem..
4) Persistent, with silver-coloured hoary fine hairs below and with coiled edges.
Habitat:- Limestone cliffs, occasionally on rocky ridges or road embankments, 0-
100m.
Distribution:- Some additional records from Peloponnisns and S Sterea Elias,
otherwise not known outside the Aegean area. Rare on Crete currently know from
one area in the south-west coastal region.
Flowering time:- April-June
Photos by:- Another
