PHODELINE LUTEA

Family and Genus:- See- ASPHODELACEAE

Common Name:- Yellow asphodel

Homotypic Synonyms:- Asphodelus luteus, Dorydium luteum.

Meaning:- Asphodeline. (Gr) Asphodelus-like (silver rod).

Lutea.(L) Yellow, vile, of clay, muddy.

General description:- Medium to tall herbaceous perennial.

Stem:-

1) 40-80 cm, stout, erect, entirely covered by sheathing leaf-bases.

Leaves:-

1) Entire,

a) lower, up to 35 cm x 1·5-3(-5) mm. narrowly linear, recurved

c) upper, shorter and suberect, deep green or bluish-green.

Flowers:-

1) Blooms, 30-40 mm, somewhat asymmetric, borne in a dense 10-20 cm, spike.

a) petals,18-20 mm long yellow, with a green mid-vein.

2) Stamens, 3 long and 3 short, the former with markedly curved filaments.

3) Bracts, 20-30 x 8-12 mm, ovate, cuspidate.

4) Pedicels, c. 20 mm, articulated near the middle.

5) Perianth-lobes, 20-25 x 4-7 mm.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, 10 mm, globose.

2) Seeds, 4-5 mm, trigonous, black.

Key features:-

1) Bracts, c. 25 x 10 mm.

2) Stem, leafy throughout.

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Habitat:- Rocky slopes in hills and mountains, dry open shrubby vegetation,

occasionally on cliffs or by roadsides or in scrub.

Distribution:- Italy, Sicily, the Balkans and Crete eastwards, including Cyprus.

Widespread and common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Mar-May.

Photo by:- Steve Lenton