Sideritis chamaedryfolia Cav. subsp. littoralis M.B.Crespo, Solanas, De la Torre & Payá

Species

Family: LABIATAE (LAMIACEAE)

Genus: Sideritis

Catalan common name: Rabet de gat d’arenal.

Spanish common name: Rabogato de arenal.

Province distribution: Alacant.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Mediterranean (Eastern-Iberian)

Plants protected by law: País Valencià Catalogue.

IUCN Category: ENEndangered

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Habitats: Beaches and dunes, sandy soils. Dry coastal scrub, on sandy soils formed by the erosion of fossil dunes.

Characteristics: Perennial, woody plant, branched from the base. Leaves broadly elliptic, flat, with visible veins and three pairs of broad teeth. Inflorescence elongated, with flowers arranged in distant verticillasters, with middle bracts 10–12 mm wide, broadly ovate, hairy, with 4-5 long, spiny teeth. Flowers with campanulate, hairy calyx, with 5 teeth nearly equal to the tube, and bilabiate, yellowish corolla.

Observations: It differs from subsp. chamaedryfolia by having prostrate or procumbent stems with hairs only on two opposite sides, and larger middle bracts with long, spiny teeth.