Fedia cornucopiae, (L.) Gaertner

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1976, Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae), Cambridge University Press : 52

1. F. cornucopiae (L.) Gaertner , Fruct. Sem. Pl. 2: 37 (1790)

(inch F. graciliflora Fischer & C. A. Meyer ).

Plant glabrous, somewhat succulent. Stems 3-30 cm, usually branched. Leaves spathulate to elliptical, the lower 2-15 cm, more or less petiolate, usually entire; theuppersmaller, sessile, denticulate. Peduncles inflated in fruit. Calyx reduced to a rim. Corolla 8-16 mm, purple, with pink markings on the limb. Fruits mostly broadly ovoid; sterile loculi usually larger than fertile. Fields and waste places. Mediterranean region, S. Portugal. BI Co Cr Ga Gr Hs It Lu Sa Si.

Several species have been described, mostly from N.W. Africa, based primarily on fruit-anatomy. Two of these, which can be distinguished from 1 by their small sterile loculi, have been doubtfully recorded from Portugal. They are F. caput-bovis Pomel , Nouv. Mat. FI. Atl. 72 (1874), with usually 2 long calyx-teeth, and F. scorpioides Dufresne , Hist. Nat. Méd. Fam. Valér. 55 (1811), with indistinct calyx-teeth. This polymorphism extends into some other parts of the western European range of the genus, but is not well defined; the variation cannot be given formal recognition at present.