Herbario Virtual del Mediterráneo Occidental
Àrea de Botànica, Departament de Biologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears
Thapsia gymnesica Rosselló & Cubas
Family : UMBELLIFERAE (APIACEAE)
Genus : Thapsia
Catalan common name : Fonollassa groga. Herba santa.
Province distribution : Balearic Islands.
Distribution in the islands : Mallorca. Minorca.
General distribution : West Mediterranean
Endemisms : Balearic Islands
Flowering time : June. July. August.
Life-forms : Hemicryptophyte.
Habitat : Coastal slopes near the sea.
IUCN Category : Poco preocupante
Characteristics : An Umbelliferae endemic to Mallorca and Menorca, this is an herbaceous plant that renews its leaves each year after the summer has passed. Leaves are very divided, a greyish colour, often grow along the ground. Upon flowering, forms a stem that bears umbels on the superior portion. When flowering, leaves disappear and only the inflorescence remains, a fairly rounded, not very dense structure, yellowish coloured. Fruits are flattened with membranous wings at the sides. In the Pitiusses exists another species of the same genus: Thapsia villosa, much larger with green leaves, which lives in dry-farmed fields and open garrigues. Thapsia gymnesica, to the contrary, lives along the calcareous littoral zones, between the rocks on very shallow soils. Flowers during the months of May and June.
Status : Endèmica.
