Israel wildflowers: Golden samphire

Limbarda crithmoides, Inula crithmoides, Jacobaea crithmoides, Eritheis maritima, Golden samphire,

Hebrew: בן-טיון בשרני , Arabic: طيون ملحي

Scientific name:   Limbarda crithmoides (L.) Dumort
Synonym name:   Inula crithmoides L., Jacobaea crithmoides (L.) Merino, Inula crithmoides subsp. crithmoides, Eritheis maritima Gray
Common name:   Golden samphire
Hebrew name:   בן-טיון בשרני
Arabic name:   طيون ملحي
Family:   Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים


Life form:   Chamaephyte, semi-shrub
Succulence:   Leaf succulent
Stems:   30-60 cm high; glabrous; woody at base
Leaves:   Alternate, entire, linear
Inflorescence:   In lax corymbs or solitary
Flowers:   Hermaphrodite; peduncles elongated, thickened above, bearing small linear acute bracts; yellow flower heads 1.5-3 cm in diameter; involucral bracts glabrous, acuminate; ray florets about twice as long as involucre
Fruits / pods:   Cypselas 2-3mm, hairy; pappus simple, rough
Flowering Period:   January, February, October, November, December
Habitat:   Salty habitats, Mediterranean strand
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Derivation of the botanical name:

Limbarda, named from Limbarde, as the plant is called in some parts of France.

crithmoides, like, resembling, having the form or nature of Crithmum maritimum.
inula, from Helen of Troy, being fabled to have sprung up from the ground where her tears were supposed to have fallen.
Jacobaea, possibly in honor of St. James (Jacob or Jacobus), one of the 12 Apostles.
Eritheis, εριθεύς, faction, factiousness.
maritima, growing by the sea.
The Hebrew name: בן-טיון, ben-tion, בן, ben derives from יבנה ( = to build); טיון (New Hebrew), inula.

  • 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 Dumort is used to indicate Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier (1797 – 1878), a Belgian politician and botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Merino is used to indicate Baltasar Merino (1845 – 1917), a Spanish (Galicia), religious Jesuit botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Gray is used to indicate Samuel Frederick Gray (1766 – 1828), a British botanist, mycologist, and pharmacologist.