You are here
Saudi Arabia flora checklist
Limonium lobatum (L. f.) Kuntze
Nomencalture
-
Family: PlumbaginaceaeGenus: Limonium
SUMMARY
♦ Limonium lobatum (L. f.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 2: 395 (1891).
Synonymy. Statice lobata L. f., Suppl. Pl. 187 (1781). – Limonium thouinii (Viv.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 2: 395 (1891)
Glabrous annual up to 0.5 m, generally with terminal inflorescences, sometimes with inflorescence-bearing branches also at lower nodes, wings conspicuous, up to 5 mm wide, ± adaxial–abaxial to cauline leaves, and often with one (sometimes 2) 5–35 mm long, ± flat extension at the nodes on larger exemplars, wings on smaller exemplars inconspicuous or absent. Leaves (10–)15–140 x 5–75 mm long, narrowly obovate sometimes obovate, deeply lobed, sparsely hairy marginally and along midvein, aristae conspicuous. Cauline leaves glabrous. Inflorescences in simple or compound corymbs, dense, diaspore branches up to 60 mm long, with three conspicuous wings up to 12 mm wide, middle wing extended into a £20-mm-long, acute, and generally flat projection, lateral wings smaller. Diaspores with 6–7 spicules, bract mucronate, without lateral wing extensions, a1-prophylls slightly and irregularly emarginate, mucronate, b-prophyll smooth, with two subulate, thorn-like, often curved and decurrent projections, 3-lobed, lobes apically scarious, a2-prophyll apically irregularly rounded. Calyx infundibuliform, conspicuous, primary ribs interlobal, reaching lobe tips or slightly longer, pale blue to whitish. Corolla yellow. Taxonomic note: Limonium lobatum is immediately recognized by its conspicuous pale blue to whitish calyx with the very long primary ribs arising between the lobes. It resembles L. sinuatum but differs by the mostly two stem wings often with one extension at each node, the large and acute middle wing extension of the diaspore branches, the absence of thorn-like projections on the bracts to the first spicule, as well as by the calyx features. The calyx characters are unique in the family. .