Wall Valantia | Valantia muralis

Valantia muralis, Aspera muralis, Aspera nutans, Galium vexans,Wall Valantia,

Hebrew: חגוית החומות, Arabic: فلنتية الحيطان

Scientific name:   Valantia muralis L.
Synonym name:   Aspera muralis (L.) Lowe, Aspera nutans Moench, Galium vexans Rchb.f.
Common name:   Wall Valantia
Hebrew name:   חגוית החומות
Arabic name:   فلنتية الحيطان
Family:   Rubiaceae, madder family, bedstraw family, פואתיים


Life form:   Therophyte, annual
Stems:   Up to 15cm tall; peduncle and pedicels broadly coa
Leaves:   3-6.5×2-2.5, obtuse, whorled, peduncle and pedicels with conspicuous dorsal horn; horn and pedicels with hooked bristels
Inflorescence:   whorls of short, axillary 3-flowered cymes; central flower hermaphrodite
Flowers:   Hermaphrodite flower 1-1.6mm, corolla 4-lobed; lateral flowers male, corolla 3-lobed; yellow, green
Fruits / pods:   Mericarps usually 1, 1–1.2 mm, smooth
Flowering Period:   March, April
Habitat:   Mediterranean coast
Distribution:   The Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

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

muralis, growing on walls.
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.