Chaenorhinum formenterae Gand

Spice Flower In the field

Family: SCROPHULARIACEAE

Genus: Chaenorhinum

Sinònims: Chaenorhinum rubrifolium (DC.) Fourr. subsp. formenterae (Gand.) R. Fern.

Province distribution: Balearic Islands.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Ibiza. Formentera.

General distribution (Phytogeography): West Mediterranean

IUCN Category: NTNear threatened

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Terophyte.

Habitats: Beaches and dunes, sandy soils. Therophytic calicole fields. Therophytics communities.

Characteristics: An annual plant, very tiny, with a rosette of leaves in its base and only one stem which holds the flowers. The flowers are lilac and have a small spur at the back. Usually the whole plant has a reddish colour, other times only the underside of the leaves have these colours. It lives on sandy soils in communities of annual plants typical of dune systems; it is especially abundant in Formentera, and also on the beaches in the South of Eivissa. It flowers throughout spring.