TEUCRIUM FLAVUM subsp. HELLENICUM
Including:- Subsp. gymnocalyx, based mainly on unspecified differences in the
indumentum.
Family and Genus:- See-LABIATAE/Sect. CHAMAEDRYS
Common Names:- Yellow germander
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Teucrium (Gr) A name used by the Greek physician and botanist
Dioscorides, perhaps for the hero and first King of Troy, Teucer.
Flavum (L) Somewhat yellow.
Hellenicum (L) From Greece, Grecian.
Gymnocalyx (Gr) Exposed calyx, (the protruding flower buds)
General description:- Dwarf, densely branched.
Stems:-
1) Up to 20 cm, slender, velutinous.
Leaves:-
1) 10-40 x 10-25. in opposite pairs. petiolate, simple, shallowly lobed, velutinous
beneath, glabrescent.
2) Petiole, as long as the width of the lamina.
Flowers:-
1) 10-15 mm long, joined together in 2 or more in tiered whorls.
2) Calyx, 7 mm with 5, fused, green a little reddish, tubular, teeth nearly as long as
a) teeth, 5, fused, green a little reddish, tubular, nearly as long as the tube.
3) Corolla, yellow,
a) lower lip, divided into 5 lobes (median lobe definitely curved), a hairy tube
conspicuously longer than the calyx.
4) Sepals, toothed, with non-glandular hairs.
5) Stamens, 4 with protruding, purple filaments and brown anthers.
6) Style, 1, protruding, bifid.
Fruit:-
1) Nutlets, smooth or reticulate.
Key features:-
1) Most leaves 10 mm or more.
2) Corolla, yellow.
3) Petiole, as long as the width of the lamina.
4) Calyx, ± hairy, c. 7 mm; teeth nearly as long as tube.
Habitat:- Rocky slopes with evergreen scrub and open coniferous wood-land. (0-)
200-1200 m.
Distribution:- Endemic Crete, Aegean, Greece, & W. Turkey. Limited distribution
on Crete. Rare.
Flowering time:- Mid-Apr to July.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton