Re: Ptilostemon chamaepeuce
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: Ptilostemon chamaepeuce
- From: N* T*
- Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 09:40:36 CST6CDT
- Priority: normal
> Does anyone out there know of this plant? I just know that it is a kind of
> thistle and that the seed came from Greece. Anni J.
>
Yes, it must be Ptilostemon chamaepeuce. It's a small shrub to about 2 feet
tall by 3 feet across (60 X 90 cm), with narrow, pine-needle-like leaves green
above and white below; the stems are also white when young. The effect is
rather like a dwarf pine (hence "chamaepeuce"). The flower heads are
purple, like those of the British common knapweed (Centaurea nigra), in
clusters at the end of nearly leafless stalks growing from the ends of the
branches. It grows all around the Aegean, usually on limestone cliff faces,
and is especially common in Crete (where limestone cliff faces are especially
common...) There's another shrubby species, Ptilostemon gnaphalodes,
which looks exactly the same but with larger, white flower heads. I've seen
that plant in one gorge in SW Crete and also on the cliffs at Nafplio in S
Greece. Both species ought to do well in mediterranean climates elsewhere.
Sun or shade doesn't seem to matter, but I would think a well-drained
limestone soil would be important.
Nick
Nick Turland
Flora of China Project, Missouri Botanical Garden,
P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, MO 63166-0299, U.S.A.
E-mail: Nicholas.Turland@mobot.org
Phone: +1 314 577 0269 Fax: +1 314 577 9438
MBG web: http://www.mobot.org
FOC web: http://flora.harvard.edu/china/
