APHANES ARVENSIS

Family and Genus:- See- ROSACEAE

Common Names:- Parsley piert

Homotypic Synonyms:- Aphanes vulgaris

Meaning:- Aphanes (Gr) Inconspicuous, unnoticed.

Arvensis (L) Of the cultivated field, of ploughed fields.

General description:- Procumbent annual, usually branched from the base,

sparsely villous throughout;

Stems:-

1) 3-15 cm, ascending, usually much-branched from the base.

Leaves:-

1) Deeply 3-fid, the segments divided at the apex into 3-5 oblong lobes.

2) Petiole, short, adnate to the stipules.

3) Stipules, broad, amplexicaul but usually not imbricate, with 5-7 triangular lobes.

Flowers:-

1) Small, greenish, in leaf-opposed, subsessile glomerules.

2) Sepals, 4, somewhat spreading, alternating with minute epicalyx scales.

3) Petals, lacking.

4) Stamen, solitary.

5) Fruiting hypanthium, (incl. persistent sepals) 2.0-2.6 mm.

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Habitat:- Dry open shrubby vegetation, scrubland vegetation , cultivated and fallow

fields, olive grove, open woodland. 0-1100 m. occasionally to 1700 m. in dolines.

Distribution:- Throughout Greece. - Widespread in Europe and SW Asia. Fairly

widespread on Crete, except the far east.

Flowering time:- Apr-June, sometimes later.

Photos by:- Courtesy of Wiki-Commons