Hymenolobus procumbens (L.) Nutt. ex Torrey et A.Gray subsp. procumbens

Family: CRUCIFERAE (BRASSICACEAE)

Genus: Hymenolobus

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Lleida. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza. Formentera. Cabrera.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Mediterranean

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Terophyte.

Habitats: Beaches and dunes, sandy soils. Rocky coastlines. Therophytic calicole fields. Therophytics communities. Humid soils near the coast.

Characteristics: A very delicate, slender plant, generally few centimetres in height, it forms a small rosette of basal leaves, which can be whole or divided into lobes. It develops a very long inflorescence in a raceme shape, with the flowers at the top and the fruits which grow beneath the flowers. The flowers are white; the fruit has an elliptical form, when they ripen and the valves and seeds fall, a white membrane narrower than the fruit remains over the plant. It could be mistaken for other small Cruciferaceae with white flowers like Erophila verna, for instance, but this one has a round rather than elliptical membrane left over from the fruit.Hymenolobus procumbens generally lives in sandy and saline soils, often near the coast.