Valantia hispida (Bristly crosswort)

Valantia hispida, Vailantia hispida, Bristly crosswort, Hairy Valantia,

Hebrew: חגווית שעירה, Arabic: فلنتية


Scientific name:		Valantia hispida L.
Synonym name:		Vailantia hispida L.
Common name:		Bristly crosswort, Hairy Valantia
Hebrew name:		חגווית שעירה
Arabic name:		فلنتية
Family:		Rubiaceae, madder family, bedstraw family, פואתיים


Life form:		Annual
Stems:		Up to 20 cm tall; Peduncle and pedicel becoming strongly thickened and dorsally with many straight bristles.
Leaves:		Whorled, oblanceolate to broadly obovate, entire, smooth margin
Inflorescence:		Whorls of short, axillary 3-flowered cymes; central flower hermaphrodite
Flowers:		Hermaphrodite flower 1.5-2mm, more or less cup-shaped; yellow, green
Fruits / pods:		Mericarps usually 2, 1.1–1.4 mm, finely papillose
Flowering Period:		February, March, April
Habitat:		Hard rock outcrops
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

_{Location: Givat-Hamoreh, Little Hermon – Nebi Dahi, גבעת המורה ,נבי דחי}
Derivation of the botanical name:

Valantia , named in honour of Sébastien Vaillant (1669 – 1722), a French botanist.

hispida, bristly.
The Hebrew name: חגווית, the plant vaillantia.

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

_{Location: Givat-Hamoreh, Little Hermon – Nebi Dahi, גבעת המורה ,נבי דחי}