Petromarula Explained

Petromarula is a genus of plants in the family Campanulaceae. There is only one known species, Petromarula pinnata, endemic to the island of Crete in the Mediterranean.[1] [2] The name "Petromarula" means "rock lettuce" in Greek, a reference to the plant's traditional use in salads.[3]

Description

Petromarula pinnata is a robust, medium to tall perennial, minutely hairy above. Leaves mostly in a large basal rosette, pinnate to pinnately-lobed, the lower long-stalked; leaflets oval to oblong, coarsely toothed. Flowers pale blue, 9–10 mm, borne in large rather narrow panicles; corolla with 5 spreading to recurved linear lobes. Capsule opening by 3 pores in the middle. Flowers April–May.[4]

Habitat

Rock crevices, cliffs and old walls.

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=355685 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. Lammers, T.G. (2007). World checklist and bibliography of Campanulaceae: 1-675. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  3. http://www.west-crete.com/flowers/petromarula_pinnata.htm West Crete flowers, rock lettuce, Petromarula pinnata
  4. Mediterranean Wild Flowers, Marjorie Blamey & Christopher Grey-Wilson, HarperCollinsPublishers, 1993,