Israel flowers: Pseudorlaya pumila

Pseudorlaya pumila, Daucus pumilus, Caucalis pumila, Orlaya maritima,Maritime bastard parsley, Small Carrot,

Hebrew: גזרנית החוף, Arabic: شومر الجبل

Scientific name:   Pseudorlaya pumila (L.) Grande
Synonym name:   Daucus pumilus (Gouan) Ball , Caucalis pumila L., Orlaya maritima (Gouan) W.D.J.Koch
Common name:   Maritime bastard parsley, Small Carrot
Hebrew name:   גזרנית החוף
Arabic name:   شومر الجبل
Family:   Apiaceae / Umbelliferea, Carrot Family, הסוככיים


Location: National Park Hof HaSharon
Life form:   Annual
Spinescence:   Fruits
Stems:   Up to 20cm, densely hairy, branched from the base
Leaves:   2- to 3-pinnate, the segments divided into ovate lobes
Inflorescence:   Umbel with 2-5 unequal rays; bracts 2-5, linear, acuminate, green, bracteoles linear-lanceolate
Flowers:   Petals white or purplish, the outer only slighter larger than the others
Fruits / pods:   Ellipsoid
Flowering Period:   March, April, May
Habitat:   Maritime sands, more rarely inland
Distribution:   Mediterranean coast, Sharon, Shefela, Negev hills, Eilat
Chorotype:   Med-Saharo-Arabian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Location: National Park Hof HaSharon

Derivation of the botanical name:

Pseudorlaya, pseudo, false Orlaya

pumila, dwarf.
Daucus, the Latin name for carrot. Galen (Claudius Galenus of Pergamum (131 – 201 CE)), called it Daucus to distinguish the Carrot from the Parsnip.
Caucalis, a name given by Hippocrates and Theophrastus to this plant.
Orlaya in honour of John Orlay, M.D. secretary to the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Moscow.
maritima, growing by the sea.
The Hebrew name: גזרנית, gazranit from גזרן, gazran, cutter; formed from גזר (he cut), with suffix -it.

  • 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 Grande is used to indicate Loreto Grande (1878 – 1965), an Italian botanist who worked at the Naples Botanical Garden.
  • The standard author abbreviation Gouan is used to indicate Antoine Gouan (1733 – 1821), a French botanist, Montpellier.
  • The standard author abbreviation Ball is used to indicate John Ball (1818 – 1889), an Irish politician, naturalist and Alpine traveller.
  • The standard author abbreviation W.D.J.Koch is used to indicate Wilhelm Daniel Joseph Koch (1771 – 1849), a Swedish a German physician and botanist.



Location: National Park Hof HaSharon