Bellium bellidioides L.

Spice In the field 1 In the field 2

Family: COMPOSITAE (ASTERACEAE)

Genus: Bellium

Catalan common name: Berguer. Margalideta.

Province distribution: Balearic Islands.

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

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Life-forms: Hemicryptophyte.

Habitats: Small shady banks or slopes. Therophytic calicole fields. Therophytic communities in humid soils.

Characteristics: A small herb with a daisy-shaped flower which lives in cool, often shady, soils. All its leaves form a basal rosette with an oval-shaped or rounded leaf shape, either with or without hairs. This plant can form stolons to colonise nearby terrains. It can be distinguished from Bellis annua in that the leaves are entire, rather than dentate, and in that it does not have leaves on the flower-carrying stalk. Moreover,Bellium flowers at the end of spring, whereas Bellis does so in autumn and winter.