MALCOLMIA CHIA

Family and Genus:- See- CRUCIFERAE

Common Names:- Aegaean stock

Homotypic Synonyms:- Cheiranthus chius, Hesperis chia, Wilckia chia.

Meaning:- Malcolmia (L) For William Malcolm, eighteenth-century English

nurseryman.

Chia (L) For the Greek island of Chios.

General description:- Low to short, hairy annual, usually erect and much-

branched.

Stems:-

1) Up to 20 cm, with bi- to quadrifid hairs. Often purplish.

Leaves:-

1) Ovate-oblong.

2) Basal, cuneate, entire or dentate.

Flower:-

1) Inflorescence, ebracteate.

2) Petals, 6-10 x 1·5-2(-2·5) mm, pale pink to violet.

3) Sepals, with bifid hairs.

4) Pedicels, 4-10 mm in fruit.

5) Stigma, 0·5-1·5 mm.

6) Stamens, 6.

Fruit:-

1) Siliqua 25-70 x c. 1 mm, erecto-patent.

Key features:-

1) Petals, entirely pink or violet;

2) Siliqua, (25-)30-70 mm, patent or erecto-patent.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Rock and gravelly shores, gorges, screes, rocky slopes with open dry

shrubby vegetation, generally on limestone. 0-700(-1500) m.

Distribution:- E Mediterranean region eastwards to Cyprus, Syria and Palestine

Fairly widespread on Crete.

Flowering time:- Late Mar to mid-May.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton