LAMIUM BIFIDUM subsp. BIFIDUM

Family and Genus:- See- LABIATAE

Common Names:- None

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Lamium (Gr) Gullet (reference to the gaping mouth of the corolla).

Bifidum (L) Deeply two-cleft.

General description:- Hairless or slightly hairy annual.

Stems:-

1) 10-30 cm. ascending to erect, simple or sparingly branched from the base.

Leaves:-

1) Lower, long-petiolate with a suborbicular blade.

2) Cauline, short-petiolate, triangular-ovate, incised-crenate or senate, sparsely

pubescent.

3) Floral, like the upper cauline leaves, not amplexicaul.

Flowers:-

1) Bracts, 2-3 mm.

2) Calyx, 8-10 mm,

a) teeth, narrowly triangular-acuminate, almost equalling the tube.

3) Corolla, 20-25 mm; usually white with purple spots on the lower lip, occasionally

almost entirely purple,

a) tube, 11-14 mm, straight, slender, much exceeding the calyx, abruptly

expanded above.

b) upper lip, distinctly bifid with ± spreading broadly oblong, obtuse lobes.

c) lower lip, approx. 5 mm, broadest towards the apex and tapering to the stalk.

Fruit:-

1) Nutlets, obtusely trigonous, truncate at the apex.

Key features:-

2) Corolla, 12-25 mm. upper lip 2-fid.

3) Leaves, mostly irregularly incised.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Olive groves, open woodland, ruderal habitats 0-900(-1600) m.

Distribution:- From Corsica and Sardinia to the Balkans; locally in Algeria and C

Spain. Very rare on Crete currently known from only a few scattered locations.

Flowering time:- Mar-May.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton