SILENE CRETICA

Family and Genus:- See- CARYOPHYLLACEAE/Sect. BEHENANTHA

Common Names:- Cretan catchfly

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Silene (Gr) A name used by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus for

catchfly.

Cretica (L) From Crete, Cretan.

General description:- Bright green annual, eglandular-pubescent below, with

viscid sections above.

Stems:-

1) (15-)30-60 cm, sparingly branched above, erect, puberulent at the base with

deflexed hairs, glabrous above, rarely entirely glabrous.

Leaves:-

1) Basal, spathulate, petiolate.

2) Upper, smaller, linear, sessile.

Flowers:-

1) Few, in a very lax dichasia. Pink.

2) Pedicels, 2-5 times as long as the calyx.

3) Calyx, 9-16 mm, ovoid in fruit.

4) Calyx-teeth, triangular, acute or acuminate.

5) Petal-limb, 4-8 mm, obcordate, bright pink, with rather long, narrowly triangular

coronal scales.

6) Anthophore, 1.5-2.5 mm.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, 7-10 mm; carpophore 1-5 mm, glabrous.

2) Seeds, 0·75-2 mm, reniform; faces slightly concave, greyish-brown.

Key features:-

1) Carpophore, 1-5 mm., glabrous.

2) Calyx, smooth, glabrous, usually shorter than the pedicel.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Grassy meadows, dry open shrubby vegetation, open woodland, olive

groves field margins. 0-1500 m.

Distribution:- Peloponnisos and Ionian Islands Italy, Balkan Peninsula, SW

Anatolia and Cyprus, casual in SW Europe Widespread on Crete.

Flowering time:- Late Mar to early June.

Photo by:- Steve Lenton