CAKILE MARITIMA subsp. MARITIMA

Family and Genus:- See- CRUCIFERAE

Common Name:- Sea rocket, European Sea rocket

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Cakile From an Arabic name.

Maritima (L) Growing by the sea.

General description:- Glabrous annual or biennial, slightly succulent, moderately

branched.

Stems:-

1) 15-60 cm, usually decumbent.

Leaves:-

1) Lower, pinnate to pinnatifid.

2) Upper smaller and subentire.

Flowers:-

1) Racemes, ebracteate, much elongating in fruit.

2) Petals, 5-12 mm, pale lilac-purple or mauve.

3) Fruiting pedicels, 2-5 mm, erecto-patent, thickened.

Fruit:-

1) Mature fruit 8-25 x 3-7 mm, transversely septate into 2 unequal, 1-seeded

segments, spongy, indehiscent, the upper with a flattened beak and often 2

lateral homs near apex.

Key features:-

1) Leaves, subentire to pinnatisect, the primary divisions rarely more than 6 times

as long as wide.

2) Lower segment of the silicula, flat at the apex (when viewed in the plane of the

projections); projections less than 0·5 mm, sometimes obscure.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Sandy seashores and shingle beaches, rarely in ruderal habitats some

distance inland. 0-100 m.

Distribution:- Common around the Mediterranean coastal areas. Widespread and

common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Mar-Sept, occasionally later.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton