Phlomis bourgaei explained

Phlomis bourgaei, the puckered gray-green Turkish phlomis,^[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to East Aegean Islands to South West Turkey.^{[2] [3]}

The specific epithet bourgaei is a taxonomic patronym honouring the French botanical traveller Eugène Bourgeau (1813-1877), who collected in Anatolia, North Africa, and North America.

Description

It is a shrub, evergreen, growing to 10NaN0 tall by 800NaN0 wide. The foliage shows a pronounced seasonal dimorphism. In winter and spring, the large, gray-green leaves develop horizontally to maximize photosynthesis during the growing period. In summer, after the flowering, the big leaves fall and the plant then produces a new generation of smaller, undulated leaves, compressed against each other along the stems to reduce the area of sun exposure and limit evapotranspiration. These new leaves are covered with a thick coat of wooly, golden brown hairs.^[4]

The flowers are yellow with 20–30 mm corolla, appear in April–May, and are carried in the leaf axils.^[2]

In the wild, P. bourgaei grows in shrublands, oak scrubs, and pine woods, on serpentine and calcareous rocks.^{[5] [3]} In cultivation it requires a well-drained soil and an exposure with sun or partial shade, and tolerates limestone.^[2]

Hybrids

• Phlomis × termessi Davis (Phlomis bourgaei Boiss. × Phlomis lycia D. Don)^[6]

Notes and References

1. Book: Ogden. Scott. Waterwise Plants for Sustainable Gardens: 200 Drought-Tolerant Choices for all Climates. Ogden. Lauren Springer. 2011-11-03. Timber Press. 978-1-60469-336-2. en.
2. Book: Filippi, Olivier . 2007 . Pour un jardin sans arrosage (For a garden without irrigation) . Arles . Actes Sud . 154 . fr . 978-2-7427-6730-4.
3. Web site: Phlomis fruticosa 'Bourgaei'. Stasher. 2019-01-26. Stasher. 2020-03-28.
4. In Search of Phlomis Species in Southern Turkey. Filippi . Olivier . The Mediterranean Garden (Journal of the Mediterranean Garden Society) . April 2005 . 40 . 2020-03-30.
5. Book: Taylor, Jim Mann . Phlomis: the neglected genus. A guide for gardeners and horticulturists . 1998 . J.M. Taylor . National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens (NCCPG), Great Britain . 0-9532413-0-0 . Westbury-on-Severn . 40499720 .
6. Yüzbaşıoğlu . Ertuğrul . Dadandı . Mehmet Yaşar . Özcan . Sebahattin . 2008-05-01 . Natural hybridization between Phlomis lycia D. Don × P. bourgaei Boiss., (Lamiaceae) revealed by RAPD markers . Genetica . en . 133 . 1 . 13–20 . 10.1007/s10709-007-9177-y . 17705021 . 22444857 . 1573-6857 .