Flowers in Israel: Mediterranean linseed

Bellardia trixago, Bartsia trixago, Mediterranean linseed,
Hebrew: עלוק מצוי, Arabic: شثٗ اٌّرطفً الأطفر

Scientific name:   Bellardia trixago (L.) All.
Synonym name:   Bartsia trixago L.
Common name:   Mediterranean linseed
Hebrew name:   עלוק מצוי
Arabic vernacular name:   شثٗ اٌّرطفً الأطفر
Plant Family:   Scrophulariaceae, לועניתיים


Life form:   Parasite
Stems:   30-50 cm tall; pubescent with stiff hairs
Leaves:   Opposite above, sessile, linear to lanceolate, 0.6- 3.6 in (1.5-9 cm) long, with coarsely dentate to crenate margins
Flowers:   Corolla pale purple, its lower lip white
Fruits / pods:   Ovoid, loculicidal capsule; Seeds many, ridged, more or less oblong
Flowering Period:   March, April, May
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Bellardia named after Carlo Antonio Lodovico Bellardi (1741-1826), professor of botany at Turin, Italy (ref. genus Bellardia)

trixago, trix could derive from trix (thrix), “a hair,” or trixos “three-fold,” inasmuch as B. trixago is a glandular-hairy plant, and it was apparently an old name for some plant possibly of the mint family (ref. Bellardia trixago).
Bartsia, named after Swedish botanist Dr Bartoch, close friend of Carolus. Linnaeus.
The Hebrew name: עלוק, alouk from עלוקה, aluka, leech, sticky; the whole plant is covered with glandular hairs, which produce a sticky fluid.

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation All. is used to indicate Carlo Allioni (1728 – 1804), an Italian physician and professor of botany at the University of Turin.