Flowers in Israel: Ward’s Weed

Carrichtera annua, Ward’s Weed,
Hebrew: כפיות שעירות, Arabic: ام قرين


Scientific name:		Carrichtera annua (L.) DC.
Common name:		Ward’s Weed
Hebrew name:		כפיות שעירות
Arabic name:		ام قرين
Plant Family:		Cruciferae / Brassicaceae, מצליבים

_{Location: Dudaim Forest, Goral Hills}


Life form:		Annual
Stems:		Erect, 5–40 cm high, reflexed bristly hairs, branching basally, decumbent
Leaves:		Alternate, rosette, dissected twice or more, dentate or serrate
Flowers:		Raceme 10–30 mm long; sepals c. 4 mm long; petals 8–9 mm long, white, cream-yellow, purple-veined
Fruits / pods:		Silique 6–7 mm long, pendent on pedicel 2–3 mm long; beak 3–4 mm long, c. 3 mm wide, spoon-like; valves c. 3 mm long, 3–4 mm wide, 3-veined; seeds 3 or 4 per loculus
Flowering Period:		January, February, March, April, May
Habitat:		Shrub-steppes, Desert
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:		Saharo-Arabian
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

_{Location: Dudaim Forest, Goral Hills}
Derivation of the botanical name:

Carrichtura, for Bartholomaeus Carrichter (1510-1567), physician to Emperor Maximilian II.

annua, annu, that lasts a year; returns, or recurs every year; annual.

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 DC is used to indicate Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778–1841), a French botanist.

_{Location: Dudaim Forest, Goral Hills}