PRUNELLA CRETENSIS
Family and Genus:- See- LABIATAE
Common Names:- None
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Prunella. From the German name, Die Braune, for quincy, for which it
was once used as a cure.
Cretensis (L) From Crete, Cretan.
General description:- Perennial, densely hairy herb. Stems trailing, up to 30cm.
Leaves:-
1) 4-7cm long, the upper deeply divided or lobed, petiolate.
Flowers:-
1) Calyx:
a) upper lip, typically rounded and untoothed or with a deep, wavy margin divided
into small lobes, more rarely 3-toothed with shorter lateral teeth that are blunt.
b) lower lip, split right to the base, teeth, narrow, linear to lanceolate and
somewhat convergent at the apex.
2) Corolla, yellowish-white, rarely rose-pink or purplish.
Fruit:-
1) Nutlets, oblong.
Key features:-
1) Bracteoles, not pungent, sometimes absent.
2) Calyx, distinctly 2-lipped with throat closed in fruit when dry.
3) Filaments, with a subulate appendage below the apex.
Habitat:- Clayey dolines, open stony slopes and flats with open dry shrubby
vegetation and patches of meadow. (400-)800-1600 m.
Distribution:- Cretan endemic, usually confined to the four main massifs.
Flowering time:- (Apr-)May-June(-Aug).
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
Status:-
Conservation status (for threatened species): Rare (R) according to IUCN 1997.
Protection status (for threatened species): Greek Presidential Decree 67/1981.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
