VACCARIA HISPANICA
Common Names:- Cow basil
Homotypic Synonyms:- Vaccaria pyramidata
Meaning:- Vaccaria (L) Cow-fodder.
Hispanica (L) From Spain, Spanish.
General description:- Erect, medium, hairless (glabrous) annual.
Stems
1) 30-60 cm, erect, branched above, glabrous.
Leaves:-
1) Bluish-green, oval to lanceolate, untoothed.
Flowers:-
1) Pink to dark purple, 8-16 mm. with a long pedicel, borne in a laxly branched
inflorescence.
2) Calyx, 12-17 mm; green, with 5 broad wings; teeth ovate, acute.
3) Petal-limb, 3-8 mm, sometimes exserted, pale or dark purplish, entire or bifid.
Fruit:-
1) Capsule, ovoid, with a thick, papery exocarp dehiscing with 4 teeth, and with a
thinner endocarp dehiscing irregularly.
2) Seeds, 2-2·5 mm, numerous, subglobose.
Habitat:- Weed of cereal fields and wasteground, occasionally in seminatural
grassland. 0-1300 m.
Distribution:- Scattered throughout Greece, but diminishing. Widespread in S
Europe, N Africa and SW Asia. Limited distribution on Crete, restricted to a few
scattered coastal locations, and a few records from the Dikti mountain area. fairly
rare.
Flowering time:- Late April to July.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton