Flora of Israel: Picris amalecitana

Picris amalecitana, Picris intermedia, Hagioseris amalecitana, Amalek ox-tongue,

Hebrew: מררית החוף, Arabic: مرير العماليق


Scientific name:		Picris amalecitana (Boiss.) Eig
Synonym name:		Picris intermedia Eig, Hagioseris amalecitana Boiss.
Common name:		Amalek ox-tongue
Hebrew name:		מררית החוף
Arabic name:		مرير العماليق
Family:		Compositae (Asteraceae), מורכבים


Life form:		Annual with rigid hairs
Stems:		Flowering stems 8-40 cm, usually branched from base
Leaves:		Entire, sinuate-dentate
Inflorescence:		Capitula few
Flowers:		Flowering heads 1.5 cm in diameter. Inner involucral bracts glochidiate, in fruit indurate and canaliculate below
Fruits / pods:		Achenes
Flowering Period:		March, April
Habitat:		Sands of the coastal plain, the Negev deserts and prairies
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

Derivation of the botanical name:

Picris Greek picros, bitter, from the bitter taste of the plant.

amalecitana, Amalek, a tribe dwelling originally in the region south of Judah in Biblical times.
intermedia, intermediate
Hagioseris, Greek ἅγιος hágios, “sacred, devoted to the gods,” seris, endive, chicory.
ox-tongue, from the shape of the leaves.
The Hebrew name: מררית, mararit, from מרר, mrar (= to be bitter); properly loan translation of the Latin name Picris (=a bitter herb), from Greek pikris, from pikros (= bitter).

The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.
The standard author abbreviation Eig is used to indicate Alexander Eig (1894 – 1938), a botanist, one of the first plant researchers in Israel, head of department for Botanics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and co-founder of Jerusalem Botanical Gardens on Mount Scopus.

Picris amalecitana is endemic to Israel, Sinai beaches and the coast of south Lebanon. Sands is one of its habitats.