ASPHODELUS FISTULOSUS

Family and Genus:- See- ASPHODELACEAE

Common Name:- Annual asphodel

Homotypic Synonyms:- Asphodeloides ramosa, Ophioprason fistulosum,

Verinea fistulosa.

Meaning:- Asphodelus (Gr) Silver rod.

Fistulosus (L) With a hollow stem.

General description:- Annual or short-lived perennial with a fascicle of thick,

fibrous roots (generally 2-3 mm in diam.).

Scape:-

1) 0-60 cm tall. erect, moderately branched above.

Leaves:-

1) 2.5-4 mm wide at the middle. half as long as the plant, numerous, all basal.

linear, somewhat fleshy, fistulose, slightly compressed, with minutely papillose

angles.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence, bracts small, scarious.

2) Perianth segments, 9-12 mm, elliptical, white or pale pink with a purplish-brown

mid-vein.

3) Stamens, equalling the perianth segments.

a) filaments, symmetrically swollen, white.

b) anthers, orange-brown.

4) Style, equalling or somewhat exceeding the perianth segments.

a) stigma, capitate), 3-lobed, papillose, pink.

Fruit:-

1) CapsuIe, c. 5 mm, broadly obovoid, smooth.

a) fruiting pedicel, 5-9 mm, with a joint just below the middle, somewhat swollen

above.

Key features:-

1) Slender annual or short-lived perennial with hollow, smooth and usually

cylindrical and tapering, subterete, leaves and slender roots.

2) Capsule, 5-7 x 4-5 mm.

3) Perianth, segments 9-12 mm.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Open shrubby places, rocky slopes, waste ground, roadsides, olive

groves, open pine forest.

Distribution:- N. Africa, E. Med, including Cyprus, scarcer in the European

Mediterranean. Sparse on Crete confined mainly to the southern coastal regions of

west and east Crete.

Flowering time:- Mar-May.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton